Fried Chop Rice Cake, also called Lvdagun (Rolling Donkey) in Chinese, is one of the most popular snacks in Beijing. With its yellow appearance, the cake is fragrant, sweet, soft and delicious. But why do the Chinese call it “Rolling Donkey”?

Here is the story. It is said that in the Qing dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi was tired of having Imperial food everyday. So, one day, she ordered the chef to make something different.

It was really hard to the chef for he didn't know how to meet the need of Cixi. He made a new kind of food by using rice powder and bean paste after careful thinking. However, a little eunuch came to the kitchen and he dropped the new kind of cake into soybean powder by accident. The chef was very worried for it is too late to make a new one. He took the cake to Empress Dowager Cixi anxiously.

To his surprise, Empress Dowager Cixi liked the cake very much. She asked: “What’s the name of this?” the chef had never thought about that. Suddenly, he remembered that the name of the little eunuch has a nick name - “Xiao Lv (Little Donkey)”, so, he said that the cake named Lvdagun (Rolling Donkey).

Since then, Fried Chop Rice Cake, Lvdagun (Rolling Donkey) has become one of the most popular snacks in Beijing.