Naughty Donkey Making a Mess

An interesting, creative food name can definitely make an impression, especially on the foodies.

Last Wednesday I met a friend for dinner. My friend was planning a trip to Beijing next month. As a foodie, she told me the first thing she wanted to do in Beijing was to try a famous Beijing snack named “Rolling Donkey”(驢打滾；驴打滚; lǘ dă gŭn)-glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean-flour.

Our first encounter with the snack was in “My Memories of Old Beijing”, an autobiographical novel written by Lin Haiyin in 1960. The book was a very interesting read and was highly recommended by schools back then.

Sadly and interestingly enough, my friend could recall nothing from the book but only “Rolling Donkey”. The reason why it was named as such was because the rice rolls are covered with yellow bean-flour, looking like a donkey making a mess on a dusty, sandy ground. A playful name like this made itself impossible to slip away from her memory.

Here are some other interesting Chinese food names I have heard of:

(Click the Chinese names for the photos)

羊乳扇; yáng rŭ shàn: Goat’s Cheese Paper Fan (Yunnan Snack) –Thin, crispy goat’s cheese slices, looking like paper fans

硬面鐲子;硬面镯子; yìng miàn zhuó zi: Floured-Bracelet (Beijing snack)-Baked ring-shaped bread with sesame seeds.

蛤蟆吐蜜; háma tŭ mì: Honey-Spitting Toad (Beijing Snack)-White sesame bread stuffed with red bean paste. The bread cracks in the middle making the stuffing visible.

燈影牛肉；灯影牛肉；dēngyĭng niúròu: Light-shadow Beef (Sichuan snack)- Beef cut thin as if light can shine through, like a piece of canvas of a shadow play.