Kaolaolao: Hollow Oat Tubes Standing Together Like a Honeycomb
Use only two things for the dough: youmian (naked-oat flour) and freshly boiled water. Shape each small piece into a thin sheet, roll it into a hollow tube, stand the tubes upright side by side, steam them, and eat them hot.
Lift the lid of the steamer and you see rows of short, open-ended tubes standing on end, packed close together like the cells of a honeycomb. This is kaolaolao (莜面栲栳栳), a dish from Shanxi in northern China, made from youmian (莜面), a flour of naked oats. It is not a noodle that is cut and boiled. Each tube is shaped by hand from a small piece of dough that is pressed, pushed out into a thin sheet, and wrapped around a finger.
The recipe here follows a single written recipe from the personal food and travel blog Carry It Like Harry, which presents the dish as Shanxi youmian kaolaolao. Its dough is nothing more than 250g of naked-oat flour and 250ml of freshly boiled water. No oil, wheat flour, egg, salt or sauce goes into the dough. The finished tubes are steamed over boiling water for about 10 minutes and served hot.
Sekai Gohan has not kitchen-tested this recipe.
For the wider context of the region, Goldthread's report on youmian includes an interview with Yu Yunlong about oat noodles from Jingle County in Shanxi, and about shaping them into tubes and steaming them. For more dishes from across the country, see the Chinese recipes on Sekai Gohan.
In Chinese the dish is written 栲栳栳 and is usually romanized as kaolaolao. The flour is 莜面, romanized as youmian. Searching with both the Chinese characters and the romanized names makes it easier to find the flour and the dish.
The Shape and the Place: A Steamed Dish from Shanxi
Most noodles are long strands. Kaolaolao is different: each piece is a short hollow tube, and the tubes are cooked standing upright, side by side, in a steamer. That honeycomb arrangement is the look that defines the dish.
Goldthread's article on youmian places these oat noodle rolls in the mountains of Shanxi and lets Yu Yunlong describe the oat dough and the way it is rolled into tubes and steamed. The cooks in that report serve the rolls with dishes such as lamb, potatoes and tofu. Those pairings are one example of how the dish appears in that article; they are not part of the dough or the steaming method below, and they are not presented here as the way the dish is eaten everywhere.
A Japanese-language explainer from the Chinese.com language school also describes Shanxi kaolaolao as dough shaped into tubes and steamed, which matches the form used here. That article gives a different ratio, 200g of flour to 200–220ml of water. The two ratios are not mixed in this recipe; the method below uses 250g of flour and 250ml of water throughout.
Some claims about this dish are left out on purpose. The recipe page this article follows confuses youmian with buckwheat in places, gives an incorrect Latin name, and makes statements about health, bloating, history and the flour only being sold commercially in China. None of those are used here, and this article does not make claims about the dish's origins or health effects.
Choosing the Flour: Youmian, Ordinary Oat Flour and Buckwheat
Youmian (莜面) is an edible flour made from naked oats. It is the flour the dish is built on. Look for flour sold for cooking and labeled as youmian or naked-oat flour.
Buckwheat flour is not youmian. The two are sometimes confused in English-language writing, but buckwheat flour is a different flour and is not used as a substitute here.
Fine ordinary oat flour is a possible substitute if you cannot find youmian. It will not behave the same way, and the texture of the finished tubes will be different. If you use it, choose a finely milled flour, read the product label, and expect a result that is not the same as kaolaolao made with youmian.
This article does not claim that kaolaolao is gluten-free, allergen-free or healthy. Oat flours differ by product in how they are processed and what else is handled in the same facility. Check the label of the flour you buy, including any allergen and shared-facility statements, before cooking for someone with an allergy or intolerance.
Ingredients: Two Things for the Dough
Equipment
- Kettle or small pot for boiling the dough water
- Mixing bowl
- Chopsticks
- Clean cloth, dampened
- Smooth work surface or board
- Steamer basket with a lid
- Pot of water that the steamer basket sits over
- Perforated steamer liner that its maker states is for food contact and for steaming
Use only a liner that the manufacturer states is suitable for food contact and for steaming. Not every wax paper or baking paper is safe for heating or steaming, so do not assume any paper will do. Keep holes or gaps in the liner open so steam can circulate, and use only a thin coat of oil on it to keep the tubes from sticking.
The dough is mixed with freshly boiled water, so stir it with chopsticks and do not touch it with your hands until it has cooled enough to handle safely. When steaming, keep your face and hands away from rising steam, and open the lid so the steam escapes away from you. Photos in this article show the steps; they are not a guarantee of safety.
Serving: Straight from the Steamer, While Hot
Kaolaolao is meant to be eaten freshly steamed and hot. This recipe stops at that point: it covers serving the tubes plain, straight from the steamer, and does not include instructions for storing or reheating them.
When Something Goes Wrong: Points to Check
| What you notice | What to check | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The dough is too hot to knead | It was mixed with freshly boiled water | Keep using chopsticks and wait longer. Do not handle the dough until it is safe to touch |
| The water went in all at once | How fast the water was poured | Next time, pour slowly in a steady stream while you stir with chopsticks |
| The tubes stick to the liner | Whether the liner was oiled | Give the liner a thin coat of oil before the tubes go on, and use a liner its maker rates for steaming |
| The steam does not seem to reach the tubes | Whether the holes or gaps in the liner are blocked | Keep the perforations and gaps open so steam can circulate |
| The basket is touching the water | How the steamer sits on the pot | Set the basket so it rests above the boiling water, not in it |
| The texture is not what you expected | Which flour you used | Ordinary oat flour gives a different texture from youmian. Look for flour labeled youmian or naked-oat flour |
| A burst of steam hits your hand or face | How the lid was opened | Open the lid from the far side and tilt it away from you |
Variations and Comparisons: What Changes and What Stays
Flour. Youmian is the flour for this dish. Fine ordinary oat flour can stand in, but the texture changes. Buckwheat flour is a different flour and is not a substitute.
Ratio. The Japanese-language explainer from Chinese.com gives 200g of flour to 200–220ml of water. This article uses only the 250g flour and 250ml water ratio; if you try the other ratio, follow that article's method as a whole rather than combining the two.
What goes alongside. In Goldthread's report from Shanxi, the cooks serve youmian rolls with dishes such as lamb, potatoes and tofu. These are serving examples from that article, not additions to the dough. The recipe here serves the tubes plain and hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is youmian the same as buckwheat flour?
No. Youmian (莜面) is a flour made from naked oats. Buckwheat flour is a different flour. The two are sometimes mixed up in English-language writing, including on the recipe page this article follows, but this article does not treat buckwheat as youmian.
Can I use ordinary oat flour?
Finely milled ordinary oat flour is a possible substitute, but it will not give the same texture as youmian. Check the product label, and expect the result to differ from kaolaolao made with naked-oat flour.
Is kaolaolao gluten-free?
This article makes no gluten-free or allergen-free claim. Flours differ by product, so read the label of the flour you buy, including any allergen and shared-facility statements.
Can I use wax paper in the steamer?
Use only a liner that its maker states is suitable for food contact and steaming. Not all wax paper is safe for heating or steaming. Keep holes or gaps open so steam can circulate, and oil the liner thinly to stop sticking.
Why is there no salt or oil in the dough?
The dough is made from naked-oat flour and freshly boiled water only. Oil is used only on the steamer liner, not in the dough.
How many tubes does this make, and how many people does it serve?
The recipe followed here does not give a yield or number of servings, so none is stated here. The number of tubes depends on how much dough you pinch off for each one.
Can I make kaolaolao ahead and reheat it?
The guidance followed here is to serve kaolaolao hot, freshly steamed. This article does not include storage or reheating instructions.
Sources
- Carry It Like Harry, "Kaolaolao 山西莜面栲栳栳: Naked Oat Pasta from Northern China." A personal food and travel blog recipe. The only source for the ingredients and method here: 250g naked-oat flour and 250ml freshly boiled water, resting under a damp cloth for about 10 minutes, pinching pieces about 2 cm in size, pressing and pushing them into thin sheets, rolling them around a finger, steaming over boiling water for 10 minutes and serving hot; also notes that fine oat flour may substitute with a different texture. Its buckwheat confusion, Latin name, and claims about commercial availability, health, bloating and history are not used. https://carryitlikeharry.com/kaolaolao-%E5%B1%B1%E8%A5%BF%E8%8E%9C%E9%9D%A2%E6%A0%B2%E6%A0%B3%E6%A0%B3-naked-oat-pasta-from-northern-china/
- Goldthread (South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.), "Youmian: The Chinese oat noodle rolls that sustained life in the mountains." A reported article with an interview of Yu Yunlong, used only for regional context on Jingle County in Shanxi, oat noodles shaped into tubes and steamed, and the cooks' examples of serving them with lamb, potatoes and tofu. Not a measured recipe. https://www.goldthread2.com/food/youmian-chinese-oat-noodle-rolls-sustained-life-mountains/article/3099795
- Chinese.com Chinese language school, "山西名物「栲栳老」とは？蜂の巣麺の由来・作り方・本場の食べ方を徹底解説." A Japanese-language secondary article, used only to cross-check the tube-shaped, steamed form of Shanxi kaolaolao and to note that it gives a different ratio of 200g flour to 200–220ml water. Its claims about history, health and other topics are not used. https://www.1chinese.com/ala/8489/
