A deep-fried glutinous-rice cake filled with sweet red-bean paste, one of Tianjin's "Three Wonders." A skin of fermented glutinous-rice dough wraps a soft red-bean filling, then fries in sesame oil into a flattened sphere — crisp and faintly sour-fragrant outside, dense and sweet within. Eaten hot, when the shell crackles and the bean paste runs warm.
Founded in Tianjin in 1892 (the 18th year of the Guangxu reign), when a local named Liu Wanchun set up a fried-cake business. He was particular about his materials, choosing yellow millet and glutinous rice from the river districts around the city. His shop sat against a long, narrow alley barely a meter wide called Erduoyan — "Ear-Hole" Lane — so people called his cakes Erduoyan zha gao after the lane, and the name stuck. The cake was later named a famous Chinese snack and entered Tianjin's intangible-heritage list.
A flattened ball about the size of a small fist, deep golden and blistered. The shell shatters thin and crisp under your teeth, with a faint winey tang from the fermented rice; just inside, the glutinous skin turns soft and chewy. The center is a smooth, dark, not-too-sweet red-bean paste, warm and slightly molten. Best eaten standing at the counter, before the shell softens.
Two things define it: a fermented glutinous-rice dough, and frying in sesame oil. The rice is ground and lightly fermented, which gives the shell its tang and helps it blister crisp rather than turning leathery in the oil. The cake is fried at a moderate, steady heat so the thick glutinous skin cooks through before the outside scorches; as the water inside flashes to steam, the shell puffs and sets into a thin, glassy crust. Sesame oil carries its own toasty aroma into the fried surface.
Variations
The orthodox filling is red-bean paste; some makers offer other sweet fillings, but the bean-paste version is the canonical one. Day-old cakes lose the point entirely — the shell goes soft and the contrast is gone, which is why they are made and sold to be eaten on the spot.
On the Palate
Where Erduoyan Fried Cake sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 2 hours
- 160 min
Grind soaked glutinous rice (and a little yellow millet) into a wet dough and let it ferment lightly until faintly sour-fragrant.
Watch outStop the ferment when it smells faintly sour and sweet, not sharp or boozy — over-fermented dough fries sour and won't crisp.
- 240 min
Cook red beans soft, mash, and fry down with brown sugar into a smooth, thick paste; cool.
- 310 min
Knead the fermented rice dough until smooth and pliable.
- 48 min
Divide the dough and flatten each piece into a round.
- 512 min
Wrap a portion of bean paste in each round and seal into a ball, pressing lightly flat.
- 65 min
Heat sesame oil to a moderate frying temperature.
Watch outTest the oil with a pinch of dough: it should sizzle up steadily, not violently — too hot and the thick skin scorches before the center heats through.
- 76 min
Fry the cakes, turning, until the shells blister golden and crisp and the centers are hot through.
Watch outFry until the shell blisters and turns crackling-golden and a tap sounds hollow — that thin glassy crust means the inside is cooked.
- 82 min
Drain and serve at once, while the shell still crackles.
