Yantai Menzi (Pan-Fried Starch Cake)

Yantai menzi is a traditional snack made by cooking sweet-potato starch into a set jelly, then pan-frying it in oil until golden and crisp on both sides, with a crackling skin and a soft, translucent centre, dressed at the end with garlic, sesame paste and soy sauce.

Menzi is said to have begun on the Jiaodong coast, where fishermen made do with cheap sweet-potato starch, frying and seasoning it until it became a beloved street snack across Yantai, a shared everyday memory across generations.

The fried jelly is cut into pieces and served in a bowl, dressed to taste with strong garlic paste, sesame paste, chilli oil and vinegar, eaten with a bamboo skewer, crisp and tender at once and rich with garlic, a fixture of night markets and street stalls.

The crackling starch crust and the pungent garlic-sesame dressing are the unmistakable marks of Yantai menzi.