Coarse-Grain Noodles · FFET10401
Youmian (naked-oat flour and noodles)
Naked oats are milled into youmian flour for kaolaolao rolls and hele noodles, found across several northern regions.
Noodles and similar foods whose main material is a coarse grain such as buckwheat, oat or maize.
Youmian is flour milled from naked oats and made into foods such as kaolaolao rolls and hele noodles. It is common in central and western Inner Mongolia, northern Shanxi, western Hebei, northern Shaanxi, and Beijing’s Yanqing District; in Shanxi’s Yanbei, Xinzhou, and Lüliang areas, kaolaolao is an everyday coarse-grain meal in mountain communities.
What
Youmian is flour milled from naked oats and used to make foods including kaolaolao rolls and hele noodles. Kaolaolao is also called youmian wowo or tui wowo.2,3
When
Naked-oat growing is said to date from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with large-scale planting from the early Qing, and kaolaolao is said to be over a thousand years old. None of these claims rests on a dated primary text, so they do not establish the earliest date for youmian.1,2
Where
Youmian is common in central and western Inner Mongolia, northern Shanxi, western Hebei, northern Shaanxi, and Beijing’s Yanqing District. Wuchuan, in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, produces Wuchuan youmian; kaolaolao is an everyday food in mountain communities in Shanxi’s Yanbei, Xinzhou, and Lüliang areas.1,2,3
How
After milling, naked-oat flour can be shaped into kaolaolao rolls and steamed, or pressed into hele noodles. The name kaolaolao comes from kaolao, a round woven basket.2,3
Why
Naked oats tolerate cold and saline-alkaline soils and mature quickly, suiting northern upland growing conditions. Their flour can be made into rolled or pressed noodle forms.1
Impact and influence
Wuchuan youmian was approved as a geographical indication product in November 2016, and its making craft is listed as regional intangible cultural heritage in Inner Mongolia. The traditional craft of making tijian noodles and youmian kaolaolao entered Shanxi's first provincial expansion list in 2009 under Shanxi noodle-making skills. The official notices for these have not been checked, and the heritage listings concern the crafts.1,2