At the table
Break or cut off a small piece and chew slowly. The dense center can be hot when freshly fried.
Dense and chewy; take small bites. Ask about other ingredients and shared frying oil if needed.
Names and ring sizes vary. Filled millet cakes and wheat doughnuts are different foods. Confirm ingredients if buying a different maker’s version.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Names and ring sizes vary. Filled millet cakes and wheat doughnuts are different foods. Confirm ingredients if buying a different maker’s version.
Typical ingredients
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Toasty millet and aromatic flaxseed oil, with a gentle fermented sweetness.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- A firm fried surface and a dense, chewy center.
- How it’s made
- Millet flour is heated, mixed with hot water, rested to ferment, shaped into rings and fried in flaxseed oil.
Names and ring sizes vary. Filled millet cakes and wheat doughnuts are different foods. Confirm ingredients if buying a different maker’s version.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Inner Mongolia.
About this regional connection
Inner Mongolia: New Year rings in Togtoh and Tumd Right Banner, within central and western Inner Mongolia. Northern Shanxi and northern Shaanxi also eat the cake, so no single birthplace is fixed here. Liangcheng's filled fried millet cake is not this ring.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有糕圐圙吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
A New Year ring
This account describes a tradition or story, rather than an established historical fact.
Oil rings are part of New Year food traditions in central and western Inner Mongolia and neighboring northern regions. Their circular shape is associated locally with reunion, and they are also prepared for gifting.