Yanan Fried Millet Rings 油馍馍

Yanan Fried Millet Rings (油馍馍) are small round cakes with a hole in the middle, made from fermented millet dough and deep-fried until golden. They come from Yan'an (延安) in northern Shaanxi. The shape is said to resemble an old copper coin, and in Yan'an the rings stand for wealth and good fortune. For many families, the Spring Festival begins with making them.

How it is made

Liu Limei (刘莉梅) runs a shop selling the rings at the Baiping (白坪) farmers' market in Baota District (宝塔区), Yan'an. She is a named inheritor of the northern Shaanxi craft. She explained her method to Shaanxi Daily. Good ruanmi (软米, a sticky millet) and huangmi (黄米, yellow millet) are soaked in set proportions, then drained, ground and sieved. A quarter of the flour is scalded with boiling water into a paste and steamed. The steamed paste is then mixed with the rest of the flour and left in a basin to ferment. Alkaline water is worked into the risen dough. It is pinched into small round cakes with a hole in the centre and fried in oil until golden.

Flavour and texture

Fresh from the oil, the rings are golden and give off a sweet smell. They are crisp outside and soft and sticky inside, fluffy and sweet.

Where it comes from

The rings are a New Year food that every Yan'an household has on hand, and besides wealth and good fortune they signify family reunion. Xue Yang (薛阳), a Yan'an native and deputy director of the Baota District intangible-heritage centre, told Shaanxi Daily that however varied New Year's Eve dinners have become, the rings still take the central place on Yan'an tables at festivals. In June 2011, the handmade youmomo craft of northern Shaanxi was entered in the third batch of Shaanxi's provincial intangible cultural heritage list.