🍽️ Hou Guo

Chaoyang rice cake with preserved radish.

Hou Guo is a long-standing rice cake from the Chaoyang district of Shantou, Guangdong, with a distinctive character. Ground rice batter is mixed with dried shrimp, pork, shiitake and egg, set in small pottery cups by steaming, then deep-fried until the surface turns golden and slightly crisp. The result is crisp outside and soft within, with rice aroma giving way to shrimp savor and egg richness; it is dipped in chili sauce or master soy for extra flavor. The name hou refers to an ancient marine horseshoe crab, whose juice was once used to set the batter; today ordinary ingredients are used but the name survives. Steamed and fried fresh at morning markets and street stalls in Chaoyang, it is best eaten hot—an authentic old-school Teochew street snack and a must-try for those seeking Chaoyang's traditional tastes.