萨其马 Saqima
LIAOHE CUlTURE
萨其马的前身是满族的一种传统糕点——搓条饽饽。制作搓条饽饽的过程是先把蒸熟的米饭放在打糕石上用木锤反复打成面团，然后随黄豆面搓拉成条状，油炸后切成块，再撒上一层较厚的熟黄豆面即成。搓条饽饽是昔日满族的重要供品，所以也称为“打糕穆丹条子”。后来，用白糖代替了熟豆面，成了“糖缠”，更名为萨其马。
The predecessor of Saqima was a traditional Manchu pastry – rubbing sticks. The process of making kneaded rice is to first put the steamed rice on the cake stone and beat the dough repeatedly with a wooden hammer, then rub the soybean noodles into strips, fry them and cut them into pieces, and then sprinkle them with a thicker layer of cooked soybean noodles. Rub strips are an important offering of the Manchus in the past, so they are also called “cake Mudan strips”. Later, white sugar was used instead of cooked bean noodles, which became “sugar wrapping” and was renamed Saqima.
关于萨其马来历，比较可靠的说法是“萨其马”是满语的音译。“萨其”在满语里是“萨是非”“马拉本壁”发音的合成，有“切”的意思，“萨其马”其实也属于“切糕”的一种，再加上“码”这道工序，即为萨其马。除了萨其马的名号之外，还有“赛其马”“沙其马”等满语音译的称呼。
Regarding the origin of Saqima, a more reliable statement is that “Saqima” is a transliteration of Manchu. “Saqi” is a compound of the pronunciation of “Saqi” and “Malabenbi” in Manchu, which means “cut”, and “Saqima” actually belongs to a kind of “cutting cake”, plus the process of “code”, that is, Saqima. In addition to the name of Saqima, there are also Manchu transliterated names such as “Saqima” and “Shaqima”.
关于萨其马的来历还有三则民间故事传说。 There are three more folk tales and legends about the origin of Saqima.
传说一 Legend 1
一位姓萨的女真军官，喜欢吃点心。有一次将军出门打猎前，特别吩咐后厨，要来新式有创意的点心。糕点师傅听后失神，把沾上蛋液的点心炸碎了。偏偏这时萨老爷又着急吃，厨子一火，骂了一句：“天杀这骑马的！”才慌忙端出点心来。不曾想萨老爷吃了之后非常喜欢这款点心，就问叫什么名字。糕点师傅随口答道：“杀骑马”，结果萨将军听成了“萨骑马”，因而得名。
A Jurchen officer surnamed Sa likes to eat snacks. Once, before the general went out hunting, he specially ordered the kitchen to come to new and creative snacks. The pastry chef fainted after hearing this and blew up the snack dipped in egg liquid. At this time, Master Sa was in a hurry to eat again, and the chef became angry and scolded: “Heaven kill this horseman!” Only then did he hurriedly bring out the snacks. I never thought that Mr. Sa would like this snack very much after eating it, so I asked what it was called. The pastry chef replied casually: “Kill the horse”, and as a result, General Sa heard it as “Sa riding a horse”, hence the name.
传说二 Legend 2
当年太祖爷努尔哈赤出征时，见到一名叫“萨其马”的军官带着家中妻子给他做的点心，太祖爷吃起来觉得香甜可口且口感软糯。且这种点心还不易变质，适合打猎或者行军打仗中食用，能很快补充休力。老罕王越吃越爱吃，把这种点心赐名为“萨其马”。
When Taizu Nurhaci went on an expedition, he saw an officer named “Saqima” bringing his wife to make snacks for him, and Taizu felt sweet and delicious and soft and glutinous. And this kind of snack is not easy to deteriorate, suitable for hunting or marching and fighting, and can quickly replenish the rest. The more King Lao Han ate, the more he loved to eat, and gave this snack the name “Saqima”.
传说三 Legend 3
一位做了几十年糕点的老人，从另一种甜点蛋散中得到了灵感，创新出一种新的点心。然后便迫不及待地拿上了市场卖，甚至还没有来得及为这道新式点心起名字。不曾想天降大雨，老人在宅门口避雨。大宅门的主人骑着马回来，并把老人放在地上装满点心的箩筐踢到街上，点心全被大雨淋坏了。老人惹不起大宅门里的老爷，憋着气回了家。隔天他又做出同样的点心去街上卖，大受欢迎，很快就售罄。有路人问老人这个点心叫什么名字，他想了想就说叫“杀骑马”，后来人们才为了更文雅些把这个糕点叫作“萨其马”。
An old man who has been making pastries for decades was inspired by another dessert, egg scatter, to innovate a new snack. Then I couldn’t wait to take it to the market to sell, and I didn’t even have time to name this new snack. I never thought it would rain heavily, and the old man took shelter from the rain at the door of the house. The owner of the mansion came back on horseback and kicked the old man into the street with a basket full of snacks on the ground, and the snacks were all spoiled by the heavy rain. The old man couldn’t afford to provoke the old man in the gate of the mansion, so he held his breath and went home. The next day he made the same snack and sold it on the street, which was very popular and sold out quickly. A passerby asked the old man what the name of this snack was, and he thought about it and said it was called “Killing Horse Riding”, and later people called this pastry “Saqima” in order to be more elegant.