Central Plains Oil Tea

Central Plains Oil Tea

　　Central Plains Oil Tea is a general term for various types of oil tea found across the Central Plains region, including Xi’an’s kettle oil tea and knot oil tea, Sanyuan County’s crispy oil tea, and Baoji City’s almond oil tea—all of which are well known far and wide.

　　 Central Plains Oil Tea evolved from the “Yi Shi” (fermented porridge) of the Western Zhou Dynasty. By the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties periods, it had become one of the diverse flavored rice porridge varieties. The “Tang Porridge” of the Tang Dynasty was a porridge made with apricot whey and maltose, created by fermenting and proofing the dough before diluting it into porridge. It was both savory and sweet, delicious, and highly nutritious. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, oil tea was referred to as “Mian Cha” (flour tea). According to the Qing Dynasty text “Brief Talks on Vegetarian Food”: “To make fried oil tea, take two jin of raw flour, stir-fry until cooked, then while hot mix in half a jin (or ten taels) of sesame paste, stir well, then add pepper, fennel powder, and salt, and mix evenly. Spread out to cool. Not cooling may result in a burnt smell. When ready to eat, you can either mix it with boiling water or cook it with cold water—either way works.”

　　 Xi’an’s famous Halal-style “Knot Oil Tea” gets its name from its pearl-like dough knots. There are various ways to enjoy oil tea: first, drinking it plain as a casual snack; second, pairing it with twisted dough sticks (youtiao), soaking the sticks in the tea while eating and drinking; third, topping the oil tea with minced ginger and crushed sanzi (crispy fried dough twists); fourth, cracking a poached egg directly into the oil tea pot.

　　 Cooking Method: Stir-frying, Boiling

　　 Flavor Type: Salty & Fragrant, Fruity

　　 Ingredients: 3.5 kg flour, 750 g cooked lard, 500 g almonds, appropriate amount of salt, 250 g sesame seeds, appropriate amount of seasoning powder.

　　 Preparation Process:

　　 1. Soak the almonds in cold water to soften, boil for 20 minutes, then soak again in cold water to remove bitterness, rub off the skins. Drain, rinse, and dry. Separately, toast the sesame seeds and grind them into crumbs.

　　 2. Stir-fry the flour over low heat until light yellow, remove from heat and let cool, sift it, then mix in an appropriate amount of salt and seasoning powder. Pour into a pot of lard and stir-fry for about 20 minutes until cooked.

　　 3. Boil water and sprinkle in the fried flour, stirring continuously to create oil tea of moderate thickness (about 2 kg of water for every 500 g of flour). When serving, place almonds in the bowl, pour in the oil tea, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

　　 4. The prepared oil tea can be poured into a thermos and served as needed, staying warm for up to 12 hours.

　　 Flavor Profile: Fragrant and oily, rich almond taste, crispy and fluffy dough knots, a quick meal suitable for breakfast or dinner.

　　 Innovations: Using this method, you can also make Longevity Oil Tea, Crispy Rice Crust Oil Tea, Crisp Cake Oil Tea, Puffed Rice Oil Tea, Golden Skin Oil Tea, and more.

　　 Kettle Oil Tea: Mix flour and blended flour with cold water to form a thick batter, slowly pour into a pot of boiling water while stirring to combine. Add almonds, sesame seeds, soy sauce, salt, pepper, monosodium glutamate, and other seasonings. Cook over low heat while stirring for about twenty minutes until the color turns dark yellowish-brown, indicating it’s done. Then pour into a thermos for instant serving—fragrant and delicious.

　　 Baoji Oil Tea: First, soak the almonds in cold water, boil for 20 minutes, then soak again in cold water to remove bitterness, rub off the skins, drain, and dry. Separately, toast the sesame seeds and grind them into crumbs. Stir-fry the flour over low heat until light yellow, remove from heat and let cool, then mix in an appropriate amount of salt and blended flour, stir well, and fry for about 20 minutes. When eating, simmer the fried flour into a porridge of proper consistency (approximately 2000 g of water for 500 g of fried flour). First place the almonds in the bowl, then pour in the oil tea. The oil tea is also used in vinegar brewing: after cooking, it is placed in small jars to ferment. Around the beginning of winter, it becomes warm enough to start dripping vinegar. During vinegar dripping, families honor the Vinegar Goddess. Legend says a farmer’s wife invented vinegar-making and taught everyone the technique at the onset of winter each year. After her death, she was worshipped as the Vinegar Goddess. Once the first batch of vinegar is dripped, every household makes a bowl of noodle soup to celebrate, offering the first bowl to the Vinegar Goddess.

　　 In recent years, new techniques have been applied to the four major processes of mold preparation, vinegar boiling, ingredient fermentation, and vinegar dripping, making the vinegar of West Feng even more fragrant.