Erduoyan

Erduoyan fried cakes date to 1892, when the founder set up a stall on a lane outside Tianjin's North Gate. The alley mouth was so narrow that locals likened it to an "ear hole" (erduoyan), and the name passed to the cakes themselves.

Golden and crisp outside, soft and sweet within, Erduoyan fried cakes complete Tianjin's "Three Wonders" alongside Goubuli buns and Shibajie twists.

The cake wraps a red-bean paste in a skin of water-milled glutinous rice and is fried at a carefully judged heat so the shell crisps while the filling stays moist — a hallmark of Tianjin's traditional fried pastries.