Nanyang Oil Tea

Nanyang Oil Tea

　　Take a sip of the savory and delicious oil tea, topped with tender green scallions and golden-brown sesame seeds. Savor the tiny sesame bits—the aroma lingers on your tongue, the flavor fills your mouth. Slowly chew the crushed and pan-fried golden peanuts, leaving a lingering fragrance in your teeth... The charm of Nanyang Oil Tea has captivated countless food lovers. In the old days, the sight of vendors in Nanyang city shouting their rough and peculiar cries of “Oil—tea!” while selling oil tea in pots was also a unique feature of the ancient city’s culinary culture.

　　Nanyang Oil Tea originated during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty. Before liberation, most oil tea vendors sold it in pots. These were long-necked copper teapots with long spouts, covered with cotton sleeves to keep the tea warm. Pouring the oil tea was itself a “spectacle”: vendors would prop up the back of the pot with their foot, and the tea would arc out from the spout, instantly filling the air with its rich aroma, making customers’ mouths water. The people of Nanyang even composed a catchy rhyme about these vendors, vividly describing them: “The oil tea seller leads a hard life, carrying a night pot day and night, bending over and tipping just a bit—presto, a big bowl in an instant.”

　　The ingredients of Nanyang Oil Tea include flour, peanuts, sesame seeds, sesame oil, walnut kernels, scallions, and more. It has a rich flavor that is savory and delicious.

　　Nanyang Oil Tea is an imported product, and its origins are somewhat related to Buddhist culture.

　　The introduction of Buddhism had a certain influence on China’s culinary culture. Buddhism prohibits the slaughtering of animals and promotes vegetarianism (vegetarianism among Buddhists was first advocated by Emperor Wu of Liang), which led to the rise and development of the pure vegetarian cooking style.

　　The Qing Dynasty was a period of great flourishing in China’s culinary culture, creating an unprecedented new landscape and developing a large number of new types of food. Oil tea originated during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty and is a typical product of Buddhist culture. Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty was a Buddhist believer who favored vegetarian food. Legend has it that Emperor Yongzheng personally traveled to Henan with a large entourage to inspect the Yellow River and oversee flood control efforts. One day, he arrived in Wudu County. The county magistrate, Wu Shilu, knowing that Yongzheng preferred vegetarian food, summoned the county’s renowned chefs. Among them was a chef surnamed Niu, originally from Nanyang, who was serving in Wudu. He racked his brains and came up with a way to please Yongzheng: he pan-fried peanuts until golden, removed their skins and inner linings, then split the tender yellow peanut kernels in half; he also slightly pan-fried walnut kernels to bring out their aroma, then chopped them into bean-sized pieces, and pan-fried the sesame seeds to release their fragrance as well. He added an appropriate amount of salt to the flour, stir-fried it in a pot to bring out its aroma, and finally mixed these peanut kernels, walnut kernels, sesame seeds, and flour together with a small spoonful of sesame oil in a container. He stirred them evenly, added water to form a paste, and then poured the mixture into boiling water to make a soup. Once the soup was ready, its aroma was immediately enticing, making everyone’s mouth water. He served a bowl to the emperor. After tasting it, Yongzheng highly praised it and asked what kind of food it was. Chef Niu knelt down and replied, “Your Majesty, this is a traditional family dish from my home—oil tea.” Pleased with the meal, Yongzheng immediately designated oil tea as a tribute to the imperial court and issued an edict to open oil tea shops. Oil tea rose to fame because of Yongzheng. After Yongzheng left, Magistrate Wu followed the recipe to produce it widely, opened oil tea shops, and made a fortune selling oil tea. The finest oil tea was offered as tribute to the court, the medium-grade was sold to traveling merchants, and the lower-grade was sold to ordinary people. The popularity of Nanyang Oil Tea likely flourished after this.

　　Oil tea is not only famous in Henan and Nanyang but also enjoys a certain reputation abroad. Before liberation, students studying in Europe often carried long-necked pots and sold oil tea on the streets to earn money for their studies. According to records, Chinese restaurants on the streets of Paris still serve oil tea as a premium soup dish.