LOCAL FOOD GUIDE

Walnut Bread 核桃馍

Hetao Mo

Walnut Bread is featured among the local specialties of Shaanxi.

Walnut Bread (核桃馍) — dish photograph
A common version of Walnut Bread · 核桃馍常见做法参考照片。Photo: Source photographer · License not provided
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EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.

Walnut Bread (核桃馍) is a crisp baked speciality of Ningqiang (宁强) in Hanzhong (汉中). Peeled walnut kernels are combined with pepper salt and sesame to make a paste, which is spread over the dough before baking.

Walnut paste over leavened dough

The dough contains oil and is fermented before being shaped into round or rectangular pieces. The walnut-topped pieces then go into an oven. Shaanxi University of Technology (陕西理工大学) researchers describe the breads as local snacks also taken away as gifts.

Controlling the bake

For a trial using dough prepared by one established local stall, the researchers set the oven’s upper heat to 170°C and lower heat to 150°C. Nine minutes produced good colour, texture and flavour; extending the bake to twelve minutes scorched the bread.

Sources & reading

Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.