A family is using oat flour to make various foods including oat-flour noodles and oat-flour rolls in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Feb 6. [Photo/northnews.cn]

In the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar, people in Inner Mongolia, especially in Hohhot, eat foods made with hulless oat flour in the form of noodles, rolls or pancakes involving various flavors.

Oat is the staple food here. It is a low-yield, cold-resisting and salt-alkali-resisting crop with a short mature period, contain high protein, fat and many kinds of trace elements, such as iron, calcium and phosphorus. Oat powder can be made into noodles for mutton or vegetable soup seasoned with pepper and garlic, which is very popular among locals.