From the perspective of cooking technology, steamed buns belong to the grilled category; from the perspective of world cooking history, pancakes were first introduced from the Western Regions. Ancient Chinese books mainly record four types of cakes, but the concepts of these four types of cakes are not entirely the same as the cakes we talk about today. The first type is steamed cakes, which are also the most popular type of pasta in ancient times, similar to today's steamed buns (i.e. steamed buns); the second type is soup cakes, which are actually a kind of soup noodles and are different from the current cakes. Any connection; the third category is fried pancakes, which are similar to the current fried pancakes. Tang Huilin said in "Sounds and Meanings of All Sutras": "This fried pancake was originally a Hu food, but it was adapted from China, with slight changes." The so-called "originally a Hu food" "Eat" is made by the peoples of the Western Regions and later introduced to the inland; the fourth category is Hu cakes, which are the food of the Hu people in the Western Regions. "Yu Lan" quoted "Xu Han Shu" as saying that "Emperor Ling loved Hu cakes, and all the capital officials ate Hu cakes." It can be seen that this kind of Hu cake was introduced to the Yellow River Basin as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Tongjian" Volume 218, Tianbao Fifteenth Year, June Yiwei, says that after Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty fled Chang'an to avoid the Anshi Rebellion, he had no food to eat, and Yang Guozhong sold Hu cakes in the market to offer them. This shows that Hu cakes had become popular in the Chang'an area in the Tang Dynasty.
The first two of the above four kinds of cakes originate from the Han people, and the latter two are introduced from the Western Regions. Cake is actually the general name for ancient pasta. Ming Wang Sanpin concluded in "Ancient and Modern Things: Diet": "Those who use noodles as eating utensils are called cakes, so those who eat them with fire are called Shaobings, and those who eat them with water are called Shaobings. Eaters call them soup cakes, steamed buns are called steamed cakes, and steamed buns are called steamed buns. "The meanings of oil cakes and Hu cakes are similar to what we call pancakes today, especially Hu cakes, which are what we call them. The detailed fufumomo has its inherent connection.
Before the rise of Islam, Hu people in the Western Regions commonly ate Hu cakes and spread them to the mainland. Later, when Islam spread to the Western Regions, Muslims naturally inherited the traditional food culture and made pancakes a halal delicacy. Liu Xi's "Shiming" of the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "The cakes are combined, and the noodles are combined. The Hu cakes are... made with flax." It can be seen that Hu cakes are a kind of sesame cake with flax on top. If there is no sesame paste, then add stuffing to make sesame cake. There is a "method for making Shaobing" in the "Qi Min Yaoshu" of the Northern Wei Dynasty: "One bucket of noodles, two pounds of mutton, one pound of green onion, simmer with soy sauce and salt until cooked, bake, and the noodles will rise." This kind of cake is similar to that of later generations. The mutton cakes in Xi'an Huifang are very similar. There is also a kind of "marrow cake" in "Qimin Yaoshu", which is "mixed with marrow fat and honey. The surface is four to five minutes thick and six to seven inches wide. It can be cooked in a pancake oven without being cooked over and over again. The cake will be plump and tasty." "After a long time", this kind of cake is more like the current shortbread.
The biggest feature of Hu cake is that it is easy to carry and can be stored for a long time. Muslim merchants have been traveling long distances for many years, so biscuits have become their first choice to carry food. Around the time of the Tang Dynasty, Arab merchants who went to Chang'an for business also brought a kind of Arabic baked flatbread, which is a kind of flatbread without fillings and without any seasoning. Chang'an is the hometown of Chinese cakes. "Taiping Yulan" said: "Cake comes from Sanfu." "Sanfu" is the general name of Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that Chang'an's cakes were very famous in the Han Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, the center of my country's political, economic and cultural center was in Qinzhong in the Yellow River Basin. It was only from the Song Dynasty that the center of gravity moved eastward. The Yellow River Basin was suitable for growing wheat, so pancakes became the most important staple food at that time.
As far as Chang'an cakes are concerned, there are many records before the Tang Dynasty and gradually fewer after the Tang Dynasty. However, people's eating habits do not necessarily change with time or region. In terms of time, the eating habits from the Han Dynasty, the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties have been in one continuous line. Geographically, Chang'an was the metropolis of the Eastern world at that time, and delicacies from all over the world gathered here. The lack of documentary records of "cake" does not mean that the variety and culture of "cake" have not developed. On the contrary, just after the Tang Dynasty, the famous "noodle cake" of Chang'an Muslims - fufu bun appeared, entering the history of Chinese halal food culture and making an indelible contribution to the development of China's halal catering industry.
After the Tang Dynasty, smart Chinese Muslims made it easier to carry dry food when going out. They absorbed the essence of Arabic flatbreads and Hu cakes, adopted the technology of traditional Chinese scones, and baked a small round cake made of pure flour. This kind of cake is tough and fragrant and can be stored for several days without deterioration. It is especially suitable for carrying and eating long distances. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, and even the early Yuan Dynasty, most Chinese Muslims spoke Arabic.
After this kind of small round cake is successfully baked, what should it be called? The Muslims at that time were not proficient in Chinese and were not familiar with the names of various Han cakes. Because this small round cake became their main food at that time, and in order to facilitate communication with the mixed Han people and other ethnic groups, they named this small round cake after the transliteration of the Arabic word "food", "Turml". "Tulm" is just a phonetic symbol, used and popular among Muslims. Its origin has been forgotten by people. No one knows how to write these three words, let alone what their meaning is. Later, perhaps in modern times, modern times or contemporary times, some operators wanted to make a signboard for "Turm", or someone wanted to write an article about "Turm", and then they seriously thought about "Turm". ". If ancient Muslims gave "Tulm" a phonetic name, then today's Muslims give it a written name. "Tulmu" is a food, so the name must be accompanied by the word "food", so an antique name "馦馦馍" appeared. "Fu" is a phonetic borrowing of "Fu" from the ancient "Fu". "Fu" is a kind of soup noodle in ancient times, which has nothing to do with cakes.
The sound "木" is replaced by "馍". The meaning of one sentence is consistent, and the initial consonant of all ten words is "m", which is a homophone. Until now, Muslims in Xi'an still pronounce "馍" as "mú" when they say "饦馦馍". Most of the time it is simply called "Fufu".