Yellow Millet Cake (Huanggao)

Huanggao is a cake of yellow-millet flour (ground from broomcorn millet), steamed and then kneaded, and it is a homestyle staple across Datong and northern Shanxi. It is judged by four words — golden, soft, springy, fragrant — glowing yellow, tender yet chewy, and regarded as a festive, guest-honoring food for Datong families.

Northern Shanxi's climate suits millet and other coarse grains, which is how huanggao became a staple handed down over generations. In Datong custom, 'gao' (cake) puns on 'gao' (rising high), carrying wishes of steady advancement, so the cake appears at weddings, funerals and festival banquets as an auspicious dish.

Plain steamed cake is dipped straight into a vegetable broth, or it is wrapped around sweet bean paste or savory fillings and deep-fried into 'fried cake,' crisp outside and chewy within. At home it is most often eaten alongside mutton or a braised-vegetable stew, a bite of cake with a bite of dish.

The classic is the golden, glistening fried cake — crisp-shelled with a soft, stretchy center that steams when you bite in. It is a flavor Datong cannot do without, at festivals and on ordinary days alike.