As someone from Sichuan, before coming to Beijing for university I had barely eaten lamb a few times, let alone heard of donkey meat. A chance encounter with donkey-meat huoshao taught me that “dragon meat in heaven, donkey meat on earth” was no empty saying. I could not help wondering: why was something this good found only in Hebei?

I later learned that donkey-meat huoshao comes in Baoding and Hejian varieties. What I had eaten was Hejian donkey-meat huoshao, with rectangular bread and sauce-cooked meat. Baoding donkey-meat huoshao has round bread and meat braised in seasoned stock. Apparently the two styles also use different kinds of donkey meat.

Photograph of Hejian donkey-meat huoshao

After eating it often, I learned a few tricks. With the Hejian version, for example, the ordinary huoshao is best, filled with donkey meat, green peppers, and menzi. This combination gives the best texture. All donkey meat makes it dry, tough, and bland; all menzi makes it cloying.

For a long time, though, I labored under a misconception: that Baoding donkey-meat huoshao was not particularly good and could not match Hejian's… until one day I actually went to Baoding.

Exterior of a Baoding donkey-meat huoshao shop

I visited Baoding a while ago and did some sightseeing. After touring the Zhili Governor-General's Office, I wandered along West Street.

I must say, Baoding's city government really promotes donkey-meat huoshao enthusiastically. Related cultural products and slogans are everywhere.

Display of donkey-meat huoshao products inside a shop

The most outrageous was the “Baoding donkey-meat tart”: donkey meat on top, an egg tart underneath. More outrageous still, it actually tasted rather good.

A Baoding donkey-meat tart combining donkey meat and an egg tart

But I had eaten Baoding donkey-meat huoshao in Beijing before and found it so-so. Surely it did not deserve all this hype? Or was Beijing's version inauthentic? Fine, I would try again.

I found a nearby shop called “Lürou Cao,” supposedly founded in 1989 and featured on CCTV's food program Three Meals, Four Seasons. Perhaps not the most authentic, but at least unlikely to disappoint.

Inside, I found a genuinely upscale place: luxurious decoration, brisk business, an open kitchen showing what went on behind the scenes, freshly baked huoshao, and busy servers.

Signs, counter, and staff inside Lürou Cao

I ordered one, and it arrived shortly afterward. It looked different immediately: small, oval, and substantial, with golden-brown bubbles raised on its crust. Freshly cooked and steaming, it was slightly too hot to hold. Thin flakes of crust fell onto the table, as if urging me to eat it quickly.

Baoding donkey-meat huoshao in a paper tray

The first bite brought the firm crunch of the crust, then the meat's chewiness and savory saltiness. Juices seeped between my fingers. It burned my mouth, but I could not stop.

A hand holding donkey-meat huoshao, showing the filling in cross-section

Soon it was gone, leaving me wanting more. I sniffed my juice-coated fingers and continued savoring it…

Now I understand: with Baoding donkey-meat huoshao, you must find the right shop and eat it hot, preferably seated near the kitchen. Only then can you really appreciate its charm.

The next day, in a taxi to the train station, I told the driver about it. He said the shop I had visited was not even among the best. Several others were better and had long queues every day.

Unfortunately, I was not staying long in Baoding, or I would certainly have eaten it several more times.

The driver said that next time I came, I could simply get into any taxi, tell the driver I wanted an authentic donkey-meat huoshao shop, and have him take me straight there. That would get me good Baoding huoshao.

Of course, tastes differ. A friend from Guangdong has no interest in it whatsoever; another from Cangzhou has always maintained that Hejian's is better than Baoding's.