Huanxituo Sesame Balls

Huanxituo is glutinous-rice dough sweetened, rolled in white sesame, and deep-fried until it puffs hollow; the shell turns golden and crisp while the inside stays soft and lightly sweet — a traditional sweet breakfast in Wuhan.

Long established in Wuhan, with shops in the Hanyang area specializing in it by the 1930s, it has been a market-stall favorite for its round, cheerful shape and auspicious name.

Best eaten hot, when the crisp hollow shell gives way at a bite; it is a common sweet pick at breakfast stalls.

Its soul is the puffed hollow shell and full sesame coating — sweet but not cloying, crisp outside and chewy within.