What is the most famous snack in Inner Mongolia?

When it comes to the most famous snacks in Qingcheng, Hohhot, beyond the Great Wall, I'm afraid there are only steamed dumplings. If foreigners come to Qingcheng without a delicious steamed dumpling meal, it's just like going to Tianjin without eating Goubuli steamed buns.

Many restaurants in Hohhot run steamed dumplings, and there are many restaurants specializing in steamed dumplings.

Steamed dumplings are a staple food the size of steamed bread. The production steps of steamed dumplings are: using a special rolling pin, roll the mixed and kneaded flour pad starch into thin skin, and then roll it into lotus leaf shape; Fresh mutton is filled with seasonings such as onion and ginger, and then cooked starch is used to make steamed dumplings with moderate humidity, red, white and green, and fragrant smell; Gently knead the stuffing into pomegranate shape in the steamed dumpling skin and steam for seven or eight minutes.

Steamed dumplings are delicious when they come out. Look at its shape, crystal clear, skin as thin as cicada wings, flexible but not broken; When it is lifted with chopsticks, hung like a thin pouch and placed on a plate like a biscuit, it is called "glass jiaozi". Because most of the sheep in Inner Mongolia prairie feed on Allium mongolicum Regel, it naturally loses its fishy smell, so the steamed dumplings in Hohhot taste fragrant and refreshing, oily but not greasy.

There are many explanations about the origin of the word "steamed dumplings". One way of saying it is: steamed dumplings were sold in Hohhot and teahouses in the early years. Diners are eating hot steamed dumplings while drinking thick brick tea or various lobular teas, so steamed dumplings are also called "selling", which means "selling behind your back"; It is also said that because the edges of steamed dumplings are slightly wrinkled like flowers, they are also called "micro-beauty", which means "beauty while burning". Nowadays, steamed dumplings have become a delicious staple food, so they are commonly called "steamed dumplings".

When did steamed dumplings originate? It's hard to tell. Historically, when Hohhot was still the "osmanthus city", steamed dumplings were already famous as the capital. At that time, restaurants in Beijing, Tianjin and other places used the signs of "Guihuacheng Steamed Dumplings" and "Authentic Guihuacheng Steamed Dumplings" to attract customers.

Steamed dumplings, called Hohhot in the early years, are best known as Deshunyuan Teahouse in Daxi Street in the old city. Deshunyuan used to be a pastry shop, and was changed to a teahouse in 193 1 year. Deshunyuan's steamed dumplings are famous for their unique flavor. Teahouses have strict requirements on mutton, flour, green onions and other raw materials for making steamed dumplings, and refuse to accept them if they fail to meet the requirements. It is said that the master of this teahouse will put a wrapped cloth under the steamed dumplings when cutting meat stuffing, and cut them quickly. After the meat was cut, he wrapped it in the wrapping cloth below and poured it into the basin. The meat was broken and the cloth was intact. Deshun Garden is often full of tea guests, and there are more than 200 people when it is full. At that time, eating steamed dumplings in Deshunyuan tea shop was as fashionable as eating roast duck in Quanjude.

Steamed dumplings must be accompanied by brewed brick tea, which is produced in Hunan and Hubei provinces and pressed into brick shape, hence the name brick tea. It can relieve greasy and promote digestion. Pastoral herdsmen like this kind of tea because they eat too much meat. It is said that the state has specially set up brick tea reserves for herdsmen to drink.

If you are visiting Hohhot for the first time, when local friends invite you to eat steamed dumplings, you may have the misunderstanding that Hohhot people are stingy. Under normal circumstances, a friend will give you 22 cents at most, and you must be playing drums in your heart. What about this cheapskate? When steamed dumplings are served, you will be surprised. If you can eat all 220 steamed dumplings, you are a hero. There are eight steamed dumplings, Hohhot. The standard weight in a restaurant refers to the weight of a little wheat husk, but it doesn't count mutton stuffing, so the wheat in a little wheat bag is far more than one or two.

To this end, many foreigners eat steamed dumplings and jokes. Someone asked for half a catty at once. When the steamed dumplings were served, he was blindsided first, only to see that the steamer had set half a table, so he had to lie down. After that, many people can't help laughing when they think of eating steamed dumplings for the first time. They will take pains to mention it to everyone, but what remains in their hearts is their nostalgia for the delicious steamed dumplings and their exclamation of the "truth" of Hohhot people.

Speaking of steamed dumplings, there is also a story about Niu Yuru, the late former party secretary of Hohhot, attracting investment. On one occasion, he tried his best to invite the head of a well-known multinational electronics company to eat steamed dumplings for the first time. What the colonel didn't expect was that he couldn't even eat a little wheat. He told Niu Yuru that he could see the reality of Hohhot people from a grain of wheat. As expected, he often felt this way in his future contacts. In the end, this Taiwan-funded enterprise invested 200 million US dollars and chose Hohhot as the production and R&D base. This project has become the "No.1 Project" with the largest investment scale, the largest utilization of foreign capital and the fastest construction speed in the history of Inner Mongolia.

Now the most fashionable steamed dumplings in Hohhot are mutton buns in soup. This kind of steamed dumpling minced meat has changed from traditional minced meat to minced meat, with less oil and more refreshing taste.