Yulan Cake

Yulan cake is a traditional snack of glutinous-rice dough wrapped around fillings such as fresh pork, red-bean paste, rose or sesame, then pan-fried to a golden brown with a crisp shell and a soft, chewy interior.

Said to have been created at a Wuxi rice-cake shop in the Qing dynasty, it took its name from the magnolia (yulan) blossoms in season when it was first made, and remains a classic of the city's old-style snacks.

Best eaten freshly fried and hot, often paired with a bowl of hot-and-sour soup, it is a common street and rice-cake-shop snack in Wuxi.

Its hallmark is the golden, crisp fried shell over a soft glutinous center, with sweet or savory notes depending on the filling, reflecting Wuxi's sweet-leaning snack character.