Hui-style Oil Tea

Hui-style Oil Tea

　　In the northeastern part of Yunnan, whenever distinguished guests visit a Hui household, the hospitable hosts will not only serve strong roasted tea but also offer steaming hot oil tea to help refresh and invigorate them. This oil tea is known as "miàn chá" (flour tea) in the north, and in the northeastern part of Yunnan, it is called "yóu miàn" (oily flour). It is called tea because initially, a small amount of actual tea was added to the mixture. Nowadays, the inclusion of tea is more flexible—some versions include it, while others do not. Oil tea is one of the most common and beloved types of soup beverage among the Hui people, though its preparation and taste vary between northern and southern styles. Specifically, Hui people in the north prefer their oil tea salty, while those in the south enjoy it sweet.

Let’s start with the salty oil tea from the north. The Hui people have been drinking oil tea since ancient times. Both the *Yin Shan Zheng Yao* (Proper and Essential Things in Food and Drink) by Hu Sihui, the imperial dietary physician of the Yuan Dynasty, and the *Shi Wu Gan Zhu* (Colored Pearls of Foods) by the Ming Dynasty health expert Huang Zhengyi, describe Hui-style oil tea: “Melted sheep fat is used to make oil tea. The fat is boiled, then wheat flour is stir-fried until yellow and mixed in, along with seasonings such as pepper, salt, scallions, cinnamon, etc., and left to cool and solidify into lumps. A small piece is broken off, simmered in water, and consumed. It is especially suitable in winter—warming and pleasant to the taste.” This is very similar to how oil tea is made today. First, an appropriate amount of sheep fat is chopped and melted. The wheat flour is stir-fried until golden yellow and then stirred into the melted fat, mixed evenly, and poured into bowls to congeal into solidified lumps for later use. When eating, the “oil lumps” are shaved into crumbs and poured into boiling water, mixed with salt, vinegar, MSG, coriander, scallions, ginger powder, and other seasonings, and cooked into a soup-like consistency to become oil tea. These “oil lumps” can be stored for short periods and are easy to carry—you can shave off pieces as needed, pour hot water over them, and drink immediately. In the past, they were commonly kept on hand by boatmen, porters, and cellar workers.