🍽️ Fried Starch Jelly

A Jilin snack, starch cubes fried golden, soft and crispy.

Fried starch jelly is a uniquely Jilin City street snack. Mung bean or sweet-potato starch is cooked into a translucent jelly block, cooled and cubed, then pan-fried with a little oil until the outside is slightly charred and crisp while the inside stays soft. It is finished with sesame paste, garlic water, soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil, topped with cilantro and crushed peanuts. The cubes are smooth and slippery inside with a fragrant crust, dressed in a savory, garlicky, tangy-spicy sauce rich with sesame aroma. Jilin residents eat it as an afternoon bite, late-night snack or street-side filler; little known outside the province, it is fiercely loved locally and often the first recommendation for visitors seeking something found only in Jilin City.