{"id":8508,"date":"2026-10-26T18:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8508"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:56","slug":"sohan","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/sohan\/","title":{"rendered":"Sohan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sohan is a thin, brittle sugar confection known as a specialty of Qom, Iran. Flour derived from sprouted wheat, sugar and fat are combined, flavored with saffron or cardamom, and finished with pistachios or almonds. In contrast to milky-white, chewy gaz, sohan consists of thin brown pieces that snap when bitten. Even if you see the two on the same souvenir shelf, the dough at their core is different.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A maker shaping sohan in a workshop (6 May 2007, location unknown). The work of flattening it with a metal tool is visible. Photo: Mostafameraji \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Downsized version from Commons obtained. Released under CC0 by the photographer. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Kneading wheat flour with fat and sugar<\/h2>\n

The distinctive ingredient of sohan is flour derived from sprouted wheat. In one older method, wheat is sprouted, the young shoots are separated, dried in the sun and ground into flour, which is then combined with ordinary wheat flour. Some modern recipes (sets of ingredient proportions and methods) use wheat germ flour, and the proportion of wheat flour also varies. The wheat flours are combined with fat and sugar, and the dough is kneaded while being heated to reduce its moisture.<\/p>\n

Among the old methods passed down is one in which these two kinds of flour are added to hot water and kneaded thoroughly, then combined with fat and sweetened with sugar syrup or grape syrup. This lineage suggests a soft, halva-like confection with nuts and spices added. Today\u2019s thin, brittle sohan is not the whole of the past confections that bore the same or related names.<\/p>\n

Some methods for today\u2019s Qom sohan use egg yolk. Ingredients vary, including versions made with milk fat, with vegetable fat, or with honey. The quantity and shape of the nuts and the thinness also differ from product to product. In one example of handwork, the cooked dough is divided into small portions, moved onto a flat surface and pressed out with a hand-held tool. Nuts are pressed into the dough once its thickness has been evened out, and after it has cooled and set in shape, it is packed into boxes.<\/p>\n

\n\"Disc-shaped\n
Sohan laid out on a work table after shaping (6 May 2007, location unknown). Nuts are visible on top of the thin discs. Photo: Mostafameraji \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Downsized version from Commons obtained. Released under CC0 by the photographer. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Thin pieces, bite-size pieces and white fillings<\/h2>\n

Flattened sohan is sold with pieces of nuts on top, packed in round tins and other containers. When bitten, the thin dough snaps and crumbles rather than pushing back like a thick dumpling. The aromas of saffron, cardamom and fat come through along with the sweetness of the sugar.<\/p>\n

In Qom there are products under various names, such as bite-size loqmei, gazi, which is combined with gaz, and asali, which is made with honey. In gazi, the brittle dough and the white sugar confection are layered, so the difference between gaz and sohan can be seen even within a single confection. The name sohan has spread beyond a single round, thin piece to versions formed into small pieces and to combinations with other confections.<\/p>\n

The name sohan changes from place to place<\/h2>\n

Sohan asali from Isfahan is also known as a thin sugar confection made with honey and nuts. The sprouted-wheat sohan of Qom and similarly named versions made with honey may differ in their core ingredients.<\/p>\n

Sohan halwa in South Asia also has a similar name and contains nuts. In a 2023 report on artisans in Multan, Pakistan, milk, flour, sugar, cardamom and ghee are stirred in a large pot for several hours, and the mass that cools and sets is packed into tins. Compared with Qom\u2019s thin, pressed-out wheat sugar confection, it differs in the thickness of its milk-based dough and in a finish in which it is worked and then left to set. Multan\u2019s confection is also given as a gift at home and abroad, but even when it has a similar name and comes in a tin, the ingredients and processes differ.<\/p>\n

\n\"Sohan\n
Sohan packed in a round metal box (29 December 2010, location unknown). The thin, brittle confection is stacked inside. Photo: Reza Mirhosseini \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Public domain<\/a>. Downsized version from Commons obtained. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

From halva qomi to a town souvenir<\/h2>\n

Explanations of the name sohan feature a king, or his representative, who dined in Qom. According to tradition, a person who ate a confection called halva qomi likened it to a \u201cfile\u201d that wore away the heaviness of a meal, and that name became sohan. In Persian, sohan carries the meaning of a file.<\/p>\n

In one version, a representative of Naser al-Din Shah attends the inauguration of a courtyard at the shrine in Qom in the nineteenth century. After the meal, the representative ate a sweet halva presented by a local figure, remarked that it wore away the heaviness of the meal like a file, and is said to have asked to take some back to the king as well. In another version, Mozaffar al-Din Shah himself visits Qom, eats the halva and uses the same file metaphor. The two versions differ in featuring a representative at a celebration in one and the king himself on a journey in the other. This anecdote survives as a tradition explaining the confection\u2019s name, and the date of a particular king\u2019s visit cannot simply be taken as the date of its invention.<\/p>\n

Qom is a pilgrimage site home to the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh, and sohan became a souvenir confection widely made there. It is known as a confection that visitors take home, and many workshops make their own sohan. The tins holding thin sugar dough and nuts are tied to Qom\u2019s confectionery trade and to the comings and goings of people visiting the town.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Sohan halwa<\/strong>: A confection made in Pakistan, India and elsewhere. The text compares a version containing milk made by artisans in Multan with the sohan of Qom.<\/p>

Multan<\/strong>: A city in Pakistan, known for producing sohan halwa.<\/p>

Ghee<\/strong>: A milk-derived fat made by removing water and milk solids from butter or similar.<\/p>

Recipe (recette)<\/strong>: The complete set of ingredient proportions and method.<\/p>

Qom<\/strong>: Qom, a city in Iran. It is known as a major producer of sohan.<\/p>

Halva<\/strong>: A group of confections in which flour, nuts and other ingredients are bound with sugar and fat. Their structure differs greatly by region.<\/p>

Halva qomi<\/strong>: A name meaning \u201cthe halva of Qom.\u201d It also appears in the tradition about how sohan was named.<\/p>

Loqmei<\/strong>: A sohan name relating to its bite-size shape.<\/p>

Gazi<\/strong>: A name used for versions combined with gaz.<\/p>

Asali<\/strong>: A word relating to honey. It also appears in the names of sohan varieties.<\/p>

Naser al-Din Shah<\/strong>: A nineteenth-century Qajar king. He appears in one version of the tradition about how sohan was named.<\/p>

Mozaffar al-Din Shah<\/strong>: A Qajar king of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He appears in another version of the naming tradition.<\/p>

Shrine of Fatima Masumeh<\/strong>: A shrine in Qom that draws Shia devotion.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. Visit Iran, \u201cProvincia de Qom\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A pilgrimage city and its souvenirs; product types.<\/li>
  2. Iranpedia, \u201c\u0633\u0648\u0647\u0627\u0646\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The old sprouted-wheat method and the naming tradition featuring the king himself. The original old medical texts were not consulted.<\/li>
  3. WIPO, \u201cQom Sohan,\u201d AO1135<\/a> \u2014 Product history according to the association; the naming tradition featuring the king\u2019s representative.<\/li>
  4. Kiarash Tejarat, \u201c\u0637\u0631\u0632 \u062a\u0647\u06cc\u0647 \u0633\u0648\u0647\u0627\u0646\u201d<\/a> \u2014 One process: portioning, pressing out, adding nuts, cooling and packaging.<\/li>
  5. Arab News Pakistan, \u201cMultan\u2019s Sohan Halwa,\u201d 2023<\/a> \u2014 Multan artisans\u2019 milk-containing formula, prolonged stirring and gift-giving.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sohan is a thin, brittle sugar confection known as a specialty of Qom, Iran. Flour derived from sprouted wheat, sugar and fat are combined, flavored with saffron or cardamom, and finished with pistachios or almonds. In contrast to milky-white, chewy gaz, sohan consists of thin brown pieces that snap when bitten. Even if you see the two on the same souvenir shelf, the dough at their core is different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7598,"menu_order":279,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Sohan","subtitle":"Kneading wheat flour with fat and sugar","topics":"Sprouted-wheat flour kneaded with sugar and fat\uff0fThe aroma of saffron and nuts\uff0fA thin sugar confection beloved in Qom","country":"Qom, Iran","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["nuts"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["cooked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[159],"class_list":["post-8508","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t