🍽️ Beng Sha Biscuit

Fermented-bean biscuit with peanuts, savory and crisp.

Beng Sha Biscuit is a traditional deep-fried flaky pastry from Daliang in Shunde, Foshan, named for its silkworm-pupa shape and melt-in-the-mouth crispness, and a long-established Lingnan souvenir. Flour is kneaded with fermented red bean curd (nam yu), lard, sugar and sesame, repeatedly folded into layers, then cut into thin strips, twisted into pupa shapes and slowly fried to golden. The taste is savory with a sweet edge, the nam yu aroma distinctive; the crust shatters at a touch yet the inside is flaky and layered. Alongside almond cakes and chicken仔 cookies, Beng Sha keeps well and grows more fragrant with chewing. Shunde locals enjoy it with tea or give it as gifts; at old Daliang shops, freshly fried Beng Sha still carries the rich oil aroma shared by generations of Shunde people, and represents the savory-sweet character of southern Chinese pastries.