Qishan rolled wheat skin is the chewy, mildly sour cold noodle of Baoji — distinct from steamed rice skins found across Shaanxi, this version uses lactic-fermented wheat starch dough hand-rolled into thick sheets, steamed, then tossed in hot rapeseed oil and dressed with house-blend chili oil and sharp vinegar. Its dense, springy bite is the product of the double labor of fermentation and rolling.
Qishan's wheat skin is said to descend from Tang dynasty 'cold-tossed noodles' (冷淘面), a palace dish refreshed with well water in summer. According to multiple local sources including the Qishan County government, in the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty a Qishan man named Wang Tongjiang (王同江), working in the imperial kitchen in Beijing, refined the wheat-batter fermentation method and gave the result the name 'Yujing Fen' (御京粉, imperial-capital powder). After retiring to his home village of Bamugou in Beiguo Township, Wang taught the craft locally. The recipe was kept strictly within the village for generations, but through family marriages and migrations it had spread across the wider Qishan area by the Xianfeng and Tongzhi eras. In 2011 it was recognized as a 'Chinese Famous Snack' (中华名小吃); in 2022 Baoji City inscribed the production craft as a municipal intangible cultural heritage.
Thick and chewy with a pleasant resistance — the wheat skin pushes back against the teeth before yielding, its mild fermented sourness threading through the burn of chili oil and the sharpness of vinegar. A faint oil sheen from the rapeseed tossing keeps each strip distinct and glossy.
In the washing step, the stiff dough is kneaded repeatedly in water: starch granules detach from the gluten network and enter suspension while the glutenin-gliadin matrix remains intact as a separate gluten mass. The collected milky starch water is allowed to settle, then fermented at room temperature: Lactobacillus bacteria native to the flour surface produce lactic acid, dropping the slurry's pH and partially restructuring the settled starch. When this acid-modified starch is rolled and steamed, it gelatinizes into a denser, more cohesive gel than unfermented starch produces — giving the wheat skin its characteristic thick chew and gentle sourness. The lactic acid bacteria act simultaneously as flavor architects and texture engineers.
Variations
The wheat gluten ball recovered during washing is braised in soy sauce and Sichuan peppercorns and served alongside the noodles as a protein accompaniment — nothing is wasted. A winter hot version replaces the vinegar dressing with warm garlic-ginger broth poured over the wheat skin. Narrow-cut strips (about 8mm) are the restaurant standard; home cooks often prefer wide slabs.
On the Palate
Where Qishan Rolled Wheat Skin sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 40 min
- 140 min
Combine 200g high-gluten flour with 100ml water and knead into a very stiff dough. Rest covered 30 minutes.
- 220 min
Place dough in a bowl of cold water and knead underwater, squeezing repeatedly until the water turns milky with starch. Pour this starch water into a separate container. Repeat with fresh water 3-4 times until water runs nearly clear. Set aside the intact gluten ball.
Watch outKeep kneading underwater and pouring off the milky water until it runs nearly clear — stop early and starch left in the gluten leaves the skins slack instead of springy.
- 3720 min
Allow starch water to settle 4 hours. Pour off the clear top layer. Leave the settled slurry to ferment at room temperature 6-8 hours until it smells mildly sour.
Watch outLet the settled slurry ferment until it smells faintly sour — that acid is what makes the steamed skin dense and chewy; skip it and it turns loose and pasty.
- 410 min
Drain off excess surface water from the fermented slurry. Roll small portions of the thick slurry with a rolling pin into even sheets about 4mm thick.
- 58 min
Steam sheets on lightly oiled plates over high heat for 6-8 minutes until set and slightly translucent. Remove and brush immediately with hot rapeseed oil.
Watch outPull the sheets when they've just set and gone slightly translucent, then brush hot oil on at once so they don't dry out or stick together.
- 615 min
Once cooled, cut sheets into 1 cm wide strips. Toss with hot rapeseed oil and rest 10 minutes (回饧) to allow oil absorption and develop the glossy surface.
- 75 min
Serve in bowls dressed generously with house chili oil, aged vinegar, and garlic paste. Garnish with thin cucumber strips. Slice and serve braised wheat gluten on the side.
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