Cheng County Savory Oil Tea 成县油茶
Cheng County Savory Oil Tea is featured among the local specialties of Gansu.
Cheng County Savory Oil Tea (成县油茶) is a hot, savoury oil tea from Cheng County (成县) in Longnan (陇南), Gansu, where it is served with fried dough twists as youcha mahua ("油茶麻花", oil tea with dough twists). The Cheng County government names youcha mahua among the county's featured snacks in its visitor guide.
How it is eaten
In Cheng County it is eaten for breakfast from early-morning stalls, which a writer in the Longnan Daily (陇南日报) recalls serving students, office workers and street cleaners at daybreak. At the stall she describes, the dough twists fry in a pan of oil beside the simmering pot of tea. Because tastes differ, the twists come either soft or dry, and the stallholder soaks some in the tea ahead of time for customers who like them that way.
The same writer describes a hot bowl as warming in the cold season and calls it the dish that most stirs homesickness in people from Cheng County living away; a friend who could not get home for the New Year asked her to eat a bowl on her behalf.
Flavour and texture
The tea is ladled out dark brown, with a thin film of oil floating on top. It tastes of flour and rich fat, while the twists, lifted straight from the oil, are crisp.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.