Sachima 沙琪玛

Overview

Chinese Name: 沙琪玛
English Name: Sachima; Caramel treats; Saqima; ShaQima
Category: Snack小吃
Main Ingredients: Flour

Sachima沙琪玛, also written “Saqima”, is a transliteration of The Manchu language “sacima”. Sachima is a sweet pastry with Manchu characteristics. Saqima is loved by people for its soft, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth properties.

Saqima originated from the sacrifices of the three tombs outside the Pass in the Qing Dynasty清朝. After Manchu满族 entered the Pass, it became popular in Beijing and became one of the four seasons cakes of Beijing style. It was an important snack at that time. In the past, it was also called “Shaqima沙其马” or “Selima赛利马” in Beijing.

In recent years, through the exploration of the production technology and folklore of food “Feng Gao丰糕”, it is found that this kind of food is an extension of Shaqima. Local residents even offer the sachima cake as part of their Mid-Autumn Festival中秋节 offerings.

In 1644, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass and changed the yuan Shun Zhi顺治, Sakima was brought to Beijing from the northeast by the Manchus and became popular in Beijing ever since. Saqima was eaten to appease hunger and was regarded as an excellent walking food by the perennial horse caravan and camel caravan on the Jingxi Ancient Road京西古道, which inadvertently made this delicious snack for Manchu travel along the Jingxi Ancient Road to the whole country. Sakima is loved by people for its unique taste.

According to research, the local people in Yishui County雍正年间, Shandong Province, have been making this kind of cake since the reign of Yongzheng雍正. The main style is the same as shaqima, but with more sugar and green and red silk, it is still cut into pieces when eaten. The local people will eat this kind of food together with moon cakes as the sacrificial food for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In Hong Kong, People used to call Saqima “Ma Zai马仔”. As a result of horse racing gambling is commonly known as “gambling horse”, so there is a superstition in Hong Kong that after eating “saqi horse”, you can win in horse racing gambling.

A better story is that when Nurhachi努尔哈赤 was on an expedition, he saw a general named “Saqma” with his wife to make snacks for him, which tasted good and could not go bad for a long time, suitable for marching. Nurhaci, after tasting it, greatly appreciated it and named it “Saqima”.

How to make Sachima?

Ingredients：

200 grams of strong flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Three eggs
About 20ml water
150 grams of sugar
150 grams of maltose
15 grams of honey
About 40ml water
Some raisins

Instruction:

Step 1, Mix the flour, baking powder, eggs, and water together, then knead them on a work surface to form a dough and let stand for 10 minutes.
Step 2, Dust the surface with flour to prevent sticking, roll out the dough with a rolling pin and fold it into the center.
Step 3, Slice the dough into thin noodles with a knife, scatter the noodles with a bit of flour, then fry the noodles in a pan of oil over medium heat. It is recommended to fry more crispy, fry well after the drain oil, and set aside.
Step 4, Put all the sugar and water ingredients in a pot and cook over medium heat until you can pull the silk.
Step 5, Stir the noodles into the boiled sugar water and add the raisins. After mixing, place in an oiled dish and press flat with your hands. When it cools completely, cut it into pieces and serve.

Tips:

The color of sachima will gradually become lighter with the decrease of egg liquid, mainly due to the decrease of egg yolk. In addition, the degree of Maillard reaction gradually weakened due to the decrease of egg protein in the frying process, and the overall flavor of eggs showed a weakening trend. So you have to add just the right amount of egg to make an excellent sachima.