• The Hokkiens wrap maltose and sesame filling in dough, roll it into thin slices, then bake it in an oven. The dough expands as the maltose filling reaches boiling point, however as the filling is wrapped around the dough, a hollow space is formed within the pastry. As “膨” (expand) is pronounced as pong in Hokkien, and the Chinese character “碰” (pèng) is also often mispronounced as pong in Mandarin due to the influence of Hokkien. Hence, the pastry’s name is written as “碰饼” in Chinese.
• As the baked pong piah is crispy, sweet, and fragrant, it is also known as “香饼”, which is made up of the words “香” (fragrant) and “饼” (pastry).
• As pong piah is a high satiety pastry, coffee shops generally sell it as a snack to relieve hunger in the early days.
• Due to intense competition from the 1950s to 1970s, many bakeries improvised their pong piah recipes by changing the traditional crispy crust to a Western-style buttery crust, to increase its crispiness.
• The key to a delicious pong piah is its maltose syrup, which must be heated to the right viscosity so that the pong piah will not be hard. This allows even seniors with dentures to enjoy the pastry.

椪饼 (Taiwan)

One belief is that the most nutritious way to eat pong piah is to poke a hole in the crust, pour in a beaten egg and dried longans, and fry with sesame oil in a pan. The final product is said to be suitable for women in postpartum confinement.