🍽️ Ear-Hole Fried Cake

Glutinous shell with red-bean paste, crispy outside chewy inside.

Ear-Hole Fried Cake is one of Tianjin's three great snacks, named after the narrow Erduoyan (Ear-Hole) alley where it originated. A glutinous rice wrapper encloses red bean paste and is deep-fried to golden. The result has a thin crisp shell, smooth filling, soft chewy rice and sweet bean paste — rich but not greasy. Fresh from the wok it is warm, soft and sweet, with a clear crisp-outside, chewy-inside contrast. Tianjinites often eat a few with soy milk for breakfast and buy them as gifts. The craft lies in chewy rice skin, fine bean paste and just-right frying. Ranked with Goubuli buns and 18th-street mahua, it is a must-try traditional sweet snack for visitors to Tianjin.