I bet most of you have heard of the Lao Po Bing (老婆餅 translated as Wife Cake in English) but have yet heard of Lao Gong Bing (老公饼 translated as Husband Cake in English). Today Twinny passed this to Mummy....
So what is the difference between Lao Gong Bing and Lao Po Bing? It is said that the Lao Gong Bing is saltish and blend in taste while Lao Po Bing is sweet and delicate in taste. The size of Lao Gong Bing is also bigger and "rougher" to signify masculine while Lao Po Bing is more "feminine".
Did a little check up on the origin of Lao Po Bing...and found 3 different stories.
Story 1
Once upon a time, there lived a very much loving but poor couple. The father was very sick and they did not have any money to treat him. The daughter-in-law sold herself to a landlord as a maid to pay for her father-in-law treatment. The husband missed his wife dearly but did not give up hope to reunite with his wife one day. To earn money to redeem his wife, he spent time to create a very tasty cake to sell in the streets. As he missed his wife very much, he cried "Lao Po" as he peddled his cakes in the streets and so earned the name "Lao Po Bing" for his cake. His cake was so tasty that he managed to earn enough money to redeem and reunite with his wife AND they lived happily ever after.
Story 2
This story explains why even though Lao Po Bing is a Guangdong's snack, it is also known as "Chao Chow Lao Po Bing". It is said that a man from Chao Chow came to Guangdong to become a baker. During one of his visits home, he presented to his wife many Guangdong's delicacies that he made. His wife upon tasting the cakes, lamented that the cakes tasted nothing compared to her own cake that she made with Wintermelon. The baker tasted her wife's cake and found them very tasty so he brought some back to Guangdong for the other bakers to try. Everyone who tasted his wife's cake, was full of praises. As the cake was made by the Chao Chow's man's wife, it was called "Chao Chow Lao Po Bing"
Story 3
The third story is rather similar to the first story. Once upon a time, there lived a very loving but poor couple. The wife made cake with wintermelon for her husband to peddle in the streets. The cake was very well received and to thank his wife, the husband named it "Lao Po Bing".
Well...so how did Lao Gong Bing came about? Well, as mentioned earlier, the Lao Po Bing has a very sweet and nice taste to represent "甜甜蜜蜜" or sweetness while Lao Gong Bing has a saltish taste. This is because in Guangdong, lecherous man is known as "咸色" (translated as Salt Lust in English) so Lao Gong Bing tastes saltish. The wives making Lao Gong Bing will be chanting "你这个咸色佬，我要放多些盐，咸死你，咸死你！" as they make Lao Gong Bing. Hahahahaha! So All the MAN out there, you had better watch out. =P
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