The Chinese Muslims are known for their sweet treats, so the best place to get these sweet treats and others will be in the areas where the Muslims populate. Unfortunately, even though I did see them on my explorations in the Muslim area, I did not try them there with the exception of one of them. Three of them I purchased from the supermarket that was attached to the building I lived in.
Wandouhuang (Pea Cake)
One of the most popular street snacks and desserts in Beijing is the pea cake.
Very unique and something a westerner would never expect to be the foundation of a dessert – yellow spit peas. The peas are ground, peeled, boiled, fried with sugar and shaped into soft yellow cubes. It is said to be the Empress Dowager Cixi’s (died.1908) favourite snack!
How did it taste?
Strong pea flavour. And even though the texture was typical of a dessert, the flavour was not for me. It just reminded me of peas (I guess that’s the idea). It wasn’t inedible, but I wasn’t in a rush to try it again. I only tried this once, maybe if I gave it another go, I would’ve started to like it..?
Ludagun (Rolling Donkey)
Don’t worry, no donkey was harmed in the making of this classic traditional Chinese dessert. It is sticky and delicious. It is basically glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean flour – reminds me of mochi – both in texture and taste.
It is most commonly known by its Chinese nickname: Ludagun (meaning “Rolling Donkey”). This amusing name is derived from how the end result looks. It is rolled with layers of glutinous yellow rice and red bean jam (or brown sugar), before being covered with soya bean powder. This powder resembles the dirt kicked up by Beijing suburb donkeys that used to roll around for fun.
Ba Bao Fan (Eight-treasure Rice)
Made of glutinous rice, dried fruits, nuts and red bean paste. It tastes sticky, gooey, sweet, aromatic and nutty.
This was the only one I tried in the main Muslim area of Beijing: Niujie Street. One day, I was exploring the area looking for something to eat and I noticed a very long queue outside the halal supermarket. So, naturally I thought whatever they are queuing for is going to be worth it and a must try. I queued up and got myself a little tub of this. Unfortunately, I did not like it. I took one bite and then I think I tried to take another to see if I liked it, I didn’t. There were strong raison flavours and I just don’t like raisins unfortunately. So, this one was not for me. But judging by the queues, this ones very popular. At the time I had no idea what I was getting, I even sent a picture to my friend to get a name, he didn’t know it either. Some deep Google research gave me the above name – thank you Google!
Tang er Duo (Sweet Ears)
Sweet ears, or tang er duo, is a fried sugar cake made of flour and sugar. It comes from the Chinese Muslims, but like the others is popular with everyone now. It get its name (sweet ears) from its shape. Think of this as the Chinese Jalebi – it has the same texture and almost the same taste – there is an ever so slightly different almost floral taste (very feint).
Aiwowo
This was once a traditional halal food, before it was introduced to the Forbidden City, making it popular amongst the Chinese royals. It is said to be popular due to its fragrant taste and snowy white colour. The meaning of its name is quite unclear, but it’s said to come from the language of the Muslim Uighur population. It is glutinous rice balls steamed like a dumpling (the balls are a concoction of sugar, nuts, green plums and osmanthus flowers), it’s filled with crushed walnuts and sesame on the inside, with a delicate snow-like dusting of powdered sugar on the outside, and usually topped off with a red fruity slice of jelly on top.
Unfortunately, I didn’t try this. This was one that I did see on my explorations of the Muslim area, but at that time I just did not know what it was. Shame, as it does sound good.
