At the table
Eat a small slice with your fingers or chopsticks.
The dough is sticky; take small bites and chew well.
Millet or glutinous rice flour may be used, and the filling can vary.
Its soft bean-filled dough is easy to divide into small pieces and has a mild sweet flavor; its sticky texture calls for small bites.
Recipes vary. Ask the restaurant about ingredients and serving before you order.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Millet-flour and glutinous-rice-flour versions exist; brown sugar can replace bean paste.
Typical ingredients
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Sweet and bean-scented
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Sticky roll with powdery coating.
- How it’s made
- Steam the dough, fill, roll and coat with soybean flour.
Millet-flour and glutinous-rice-flour versions exist; brown sugar can replace bean paste.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Tianjin. Associated with Beijing.
About this regional connection
Beijing: A dish associated with Beijing; individual preparations vary.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有驴打滚吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Two old Beijing styles behind the name “donkey rolling”
Older Beijing accounts describe the “donkey rolling” snack in two neighborhood forms. In the south, millet dough wrapped around brown-sugar syrup was rolled in roasted soybean flour; in the north, a related cake called doumiangao used glutinous-rice flour with red-bean paste. Both were cut and handed over on fresh lotus leaves.
