Huangling Soft Millet Buns 黄陵软馍
Huangling Soft Millet Buns is featured among the local specialties of Shaanxi.
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Huangling Soft Millet Buns (黄陵软馍) is a filled, steamed millet bun made in Huangling (黄陵) for the lunar New Year. Soft millet flour surrounds a sweet bean paste, and each bun rests on a pear-tree leaf in the steamer.
How it is made
The dough uses soft millet flour from northern Shaanxi and passes through mixing, fermentation and steaming among more than ten stages. Its filling is made from a local bean called mandou (蛮豆). Makers knead the dough into portions, wrap in the paste and shape the buns before placing them on leaves.
During a January 2023 Yan’an Daily visit to practitioner Feng Fenmei (冯芬梅) in Koujiawan Village (寇家湾村), the buns steamed for more than an hour. Their filling was described as fragrant, sweet and soft.
Where it comes from
Huangling lies at the meeting of northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong (关中) cultures. Households prepare soft buns and fried oil cakes for New Year, serving them to relatives and friends and giving them as gifts.
Feng also teaches the craft in classes, alongside her own annual preparations.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.