Chatang facts for kids
Fujian-style sweet miancha gruel
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| Alternative names | Miancha |
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| Type | Porridge |
| Place of origin | China |
| Main ingredients | Glutinous millet, sorghum, broomcorn millet, proso millet or wheat flour |
Chatang (Chinese: 茶汤; pinyin: chátāng; literally "tea soup") is a traditional, warm snack from China. It's a type of thick, paste-like porridge, often sold by street vendors in cities like Beijing and Tianjin. Even though its name means "tea soup," it actually has no tea or soup in it! It's made from different kinds of flour, like sorghum or millet.
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How Chatang is Made
Making Chatang is a two-step process. First, flours from grains like sorghum or millet are cooked, usually by stir-frying them. This makes them ready to eat.
When a customer orders Chatang, hot water is poured into a bowl that already has the cooked flour. This mix quickly turns into a thick, smooth mush. It's often served with white or brown sugar and a sweet sauce made from sweet osmanthus flowers.
Long ago, how well a server made Chatang was a big deal! A really skilled server could make the mush so thick that a chopstick would stand straight up in it. At the same time, the mush would still be smooth enough to eat easily. Servers also had to be careful not to spill any hot water or flour. They used a special copper kettle with a long, dragon-shaped spout. Handling this kettle needed special skills! After mixing, Chatang is eaten with a spoon.
The Special Kettle
Traditional Chatang sellers were easy to spot because of the huge kettles they used. These kettles were very large, sometimes up to four feet tall and over a foot wide. They were often made of copper. There were two main types of kettles: one for street vendors and one for restaurants.
Street vendors used kettles with two layers. The inner layer held the fuel to heat the water, and the outer layer held the water itself. This design was smart because it meant vendors didn't need to carry a separate stove. It also saved fuel and kept the flame from blowing out on windy days in northern China.
Kettles used in restaurants and tea houses looked the same on the outside. However, they didn't have the complex inner structure. This was because restaurants had stoves indoors, so they didn't need to worry about wind or carrying extra heating equipment.
Different Ways of Serving
The way Chatang was served could tell you if it was from Beijing or Tianjin. Even though the mush tasted the same, the serving styles were different when pouring the hot water.
In Beijing cuisine, the server would stand straight up with their legs wide apart. Their upper body would lean over the bowl while pouring. In contrast, in Tianjin cuisine, the server would pour while in a semi-squatting position, keeping their body straight.
These pouring styles were quite difficult and could be dangerous without training. Today, these special kettles and pouring styles are rarely seen. Modern technology makes it easier to serve Chatang, much like coffee. The old ways are mostly shown for cultural demonstrations now.
Other Types of Flour Mush
There are a few other kinds of seasoned flour mush in China.
Seasoned Millet Mush
Seasoned millet mush (called miànchá in Chinese, meaning "flour tea") is a savory (not sweet) porridge found in northern China. It's made only from proso millet flour, not a mix of sorghum and millet. Instead of sweet osmanthus sauce and sugar, it's seasoned with sesame paste, ground Sichuan peppercorns, and salt.
In some parts of China, like Fujian and Taiwan, this mush is called mee teh. There, it's a sweet snack made with wheat flour and flavored with sugar and sesame seeds.
Seasoned Oily Flour Mush
Seasoned oily flour mush (called yóuchá in Chinese, meaning "oil tea") is another type. It's made by stir-frying or pan-frying the flour with animal fat, usually beef fat. Sometimes, beef bone marrow is added too. After frying, it's served in the same way as other seasoned flour mush.
Images for kids
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Dry Fujian-style miancha
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