Ludargun (Bean Paste Rice Rolls)

Ludagun is a classic old-Beijing dessert: steamed glutinous millet or rice dough wrapped around sweet red-bean paste, rolled in a coat of toasted soybean flour — yellow, fragrant, soft and sweet.

A traditional bean-flour pastry of the Beijing–Tianjin region, ludagun takes its playful name — "donkey rolling" — from the way it is rolled in soybean flour, as a donkey rolls in the dust; it is a fixture of temple fairs and snack shops.

The steamed dough is rolled flat, spread with red-bean paste and rolled up, then cut into pieces and tumbled in toasted soybean flour; eaten at room temperature, it is chewy and tender with a deep nutty bean fragrance.

Its appeal is in being chewy, nutty and sweet all at once — tender dough, smooth bean paste and toasty soybean flour playing off one another — making it one of the most endearing of old Beijing's sweet snacks.