Different places.

Shanghai’s flatbread and fried dough sticks, the flatbread is Shaobing, there is no fire in Shanghai.

Beijing’s Shaobing and Huoshao are made differently, and the criterion for distinguishing them is whether there are sesame seeds on the surface of the cake.

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< p>Beijing’s Shaobing and Huoshao, reference:

Beijingers have probably eaten Shaobi and Huoshao. Most of them are made of wheat flour as the main ingredient, baked or baked.

Beijing’s sesame cakes come in many varieties and are very unique. For example, "Tianqiao Miscellaneous Ode" says that "suzhou biscuits" are "dry biscuits with a salty and sweet taste. They are round in shape and full of baskets. They are crispy and fragrant and can be chewed carefully. It is a refreshing food called Xuannan", and "smoldering biscuits" are "The sesame seed cakes are round and stuffed into the oven, and they are filled with assorted dough and crispy. Jintai has a long-standing reputation for excellence, and it is not as good as making it in another place." He also said that "pancakes" are "rumoured pancakes are best for spring, and they are wrapped with twists and have a special flavor. They are improved today." "More progress will be made in the market all year round." The methods of making sesame seed cakes and roasting them are also different. According to Mr. Zhang Cixi's book "Tianqiao Snacks", "Sesame seed pancakes are divided into two types in Beijing (donkey's hooves, water chestnuts, salt water, and rotten stove are not included in this example): One is sesame sauce , one is the hanging stove. The sesame paste uses coal, and the hanging stove uses firewood. One is that it is burnt, and the other is that it is crispy. There are not many hanging stoves, just because it is too expensive to chop firewood, and only sesame paste is available everywhere. There are so many.”

Why isn’t Huoshao called Shaobing? It turns out that they distinguish based on whether there are sesame seeds on the cake surface. "Mo'e Xiaolu" explains that Huo Shao is a cake, but it does not use sesame seeds on the surface. This custom has been called Huo Shao for a long time (but there are also some varieties with sesame seeds stuck on the surface and called Huo Shao, such as fork fire). There are also many names for Huo Shao, such as Dang Huo Shao, Shao Shao Shao, Sugar Huo Shao, and Meat Huo Shao all belong to this category.

According to historical research, Shaobing was introduced to the Western Regions by Ban Chao of the Han Dynasty. "Continued Hanshu" records say: "Emperor Ling likes Hu cakes." Hu cakes are the earliest sesame cakes and became popular in the Tang Dynasty. "Zizhi Tongjian. Xuanzong" records: During the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei fled to Jixian Palace in Xianyang. They had nothing to eat. Yang Zhongguo, who was appointed prime minister, went to the market to buy Hu cakes and presented them. At that time, the first shop in Chang'an that was famous for making flax cakes was Fuxingfang. For this reason, the poet Bai Juyi wrote a poem saying: "The flax cake is like Kyoto, the noodles are crispy and the oil is freshly baked. I sent it to Ambassador Yang, who is hungry and slanderous, and it tastes like fuxing." He said that buying cakes in Xianyang is not like Chang'an fu. Xingfang’s flax cake. The making of sesame cake is to use clear flour, sesame, five-spice salt, clear oil, alkali noodles, sugar, etc. as raw and auxiliary materials, mix the dough and ferment it, add crispy flavor, add a paste to shape it, brush it with sugar color, stick sesame seeds, and bake it in the oven. Therefore, Bai Juyi said "The noodles are crispy and fragrant". This method is similar to modern Shaobing. Tao Gu's "Qing Yi Lu" of the Song Dynasty records: "Xizong was lucky to have food in Shu. Some palace servants brought out a square towel to pack flour, and villagers offered wine. They preferred to soak the noodles in wine and apply cakes to eat. The concubines He cried and said: "This is a disaster relief cake." I begged for half a piece. "It is said that in August 880, the peasants in Huangchao uprising and the army forced the emperor to flee in panic. Mix a little flour with the wine given by the villagers, bake it in a pot first, then bake it in the oven, and give it to him, saying it is a pancake to ward off disasters. Xizong reluctantly ate half a piece. This method of baking first and then baking is the same as now. "Disaster relief cake" does not use sesame seeds, it is probably the same as today's fire. Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty's "Essential Art for Qi Min" already has "shaobing recipes", which are almost the same as those of the Tang Dynasty.

It can be said that Beijing’s sesame seed cakes and fire roasts have inherited the traditions of previous generations and developed. Of course, the varieties are not the same as those of previous generations. First of all, more and more special flavor sesame cakes from other places are introduced into Beijing. These "foreigners", such as the historical Shandong pot cakes and Tianjin pancakes, are accepted by Beijingers and become "naturalized" Beijing snacks. This shows that Beijing snacks will be further developed and enriched in the historical trend of reform and opening up. Secondly, with the development of the times and the advancement of science and technology, cooking utensils and cooking techniques, and the emergence of new cooking utensils such as electric ovens, electric baking pans, and microwave ovens, will inevitably lead to reforms in old techniques. But no matter what changes occur, quality should come first. For example, some people say that the traditional Beijing sesame seed cakes no longer have the smell of sesame seed pancakes. This is due to cutting corners and poor craftsmanship. Therefore, we must promote the business ethics of meticulous workmanship so that Beijing can truly become a gourmet city where "flavors from all over the world gather in Beijing".