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“Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking” has selected 20 representative Tianjin dishes and 20 Tianjin snacks. The most famous snacks are Goubuli buns, 18th Street Fried Dough Twists and Erduoyan fried cake. The Goubuli buns get its name from the story of its founder whose surname is Dog. The buns he made are so tasty that many people come to buy the buns. Consequently, Mr. Dog has to keeping making the buns and has no time to serve the customers. People gave a nickname for this shop “Goubuli” which means Mr. Dog is too busy to pay attention to the customers. The Erduoyan fried cake got its name from the place called “Erduoyan Alley” where the first Erduoyan fried cake was next to. All of the three Tianjin snacks can be traced back to Qing Dynasty. Besides the three snacks above, there are others including Grasshopper Pancake, Hoecake and Fish, Crispy Mung Bean and so on. It is worth mentioning that only Tianjin has Crispy Mung Bean, while other cities usually have crispy rice. The Crispy Mung Bean, battercake and Fried bread stick are the popular breakfast in Tianjin. Tianjin people are very proud of their dishes and snacks.
Goubuli Steamed Stuffed Bun
Although you can find these steamed stuffed buns (Bao zi) almost everywhere in China, Goubuli is still the hardest to make (involving eight steps) and is consequently the most favored one among its peers. It is characterized by its unusual flavor and because it is void of the fatty liquid that is commonly found in other buns. In recent years, buns made with stuffing other than pork meat have caught on, including some interesting vegetarian options.
Although plain looking, this queue-shaped fried dough is by no means easy to make. Each bar of dough is made with quality flour and then fried in peanut oil. The bars are usually stuffed with a variety of fillings, most often the waxy tasting beanpaste (Dou sha) - a taste for only the hardy. Since it can be preserved for several months, you can take some of this crispy specialty back home to share with family.
Erduoyan Fried Glutinous Cakes
Tianjin Erduoyan Fried Glutinous Cakes were first created in Emperor Guangxu's period of the Qing Dynasty. The first shopkeeper, Liu Manchun, opened a fried glutinous cakes store in Erduoyan Lane on the bustling Beimengwai Street in Tianjin. The shop was very particular about the selection of material and the application of fire, and the fried glutinous cakes that it produced were golden yellow in color, with crisp skin and glutinous inside, and the stuffing was sweet and unique in taste. It developed a school of its own and people called it Erduoyan Fried Glutinous Cake.
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