Baotou Old Tea Soup

Baotou old tea soup is made mainly from broomcorn-millet flour, mixed with brown and white sugar, sesame, crushed peanut, candied strips and raisins, then scalded with boiling water—often poured from a characteristic long-spouted copper pot—into a thick, warm, fragrant paste.

Tea soup originated as a street snack of the Beijing-Tianjin region and was brought to Baotou by westward migrants, where it merged with local ingredients to become a taste of memory for Baotou people. Baotou old tea soup has been named among the Nine Tastes of Baotou and listed as a local heritage food, a familiar drink at street teahouses and temple fairs.

The vendor pours boiling water from a long-spouted copper pot over the millet flour and sugar in the bowl, instantly thickening it, scatters dried fruits on top and serves it hot to be eaten with a small spoon, most often found at temple fairs, night markets and morning stalls.

The long-spouted copper-pot pouring, the thick sweet millet paste and the colourful scatter of dried fruits are the clearest marks of Baotou old tea soup.