Lao bing, the Chaoshan mooncake
The flaky pastry of mid-autumn: a spiral on the top, a dot of red in the middle, fillings sweet and savoury both.
Pronunciation láo bǐng｜Food and tea｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Lao is lard. The dough is made with lard and rolled out layer upon layer, so that when it comes from the oven the surface shows a spiral and the centre takes a dot of red. The filling goes two ways: bean paste or taro purée for the sweet, pork, shiitake and dried shrimp for the savoury.
The craft sits on the fifth provincial list of intangible heritage, item Ⅷ-70, together with the craft of Chaoshan kueh.
When you eat it
At mid-autumn: on the table set out for the moon, in the boxes sent as gifts, beside the tea tray. It is eaten with gongfu tea, the oil and the astringency cancelling each other out.
Words easily confused
Lao bing is the proper name of the Chaoshan mooncake, not a name for every mid-autumn cake. Lao is pronounced láo and means lard; it is not the word for fishing out of water.
Read next: Mid-autumn: the moon table, the taro and the tile kiln.
Same group: worshipping the moon, gongfu tea, the tile kiln.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026