Zichang Fried Oil Cake

Zichang Fried Oil Cake

　　Fried oil cake, also known as New Year cake or date cake, is one of the most representative local snacks in northern Shaanxi. It is made by hulling soft millet and hard millet, adding a small amount of hard millet, soaking the grains in water, draining them, grinding them into flour, and sifting. The flour is then steamed layer by layer in a bamboo steamer, removed from the pot, and placed on a flat surface. The baker dips their hands in cold water and kneads the cake until it becomes a soft and even dough. Then it is pressed into a half-centimeter-thick flat cake. Cooked dates are deseeded and mashed into date paste, which is spread onto the flattened cake. The mixture is then rolled into a cake roll and sliced into half-centimeter-thick pieces, or alternatively, a small portion of the kneaded dough is wrapped with red bean paste or vegetable filling to make cake pockets. The cake slices (or pockets) are deep-fried in oil until golden brown and then removed. The fried oil cakes are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a fragrant, delicate, sweet, and delicious taste. When the Central Red Army successfully arrived in northern Shaanxi, the people of Yan’an welcomed the Red Army soldiers with these oil cakes. This is vividly depicted in the northern Shaanxi folk song “The Bright Red Flowers of the Wild Rose.” Oil cakes are commonly seen during festivals, when entertaining relatives and friends, or at wedding banquets.

　　Source: People’s Government of Zichang County