Syrup-Glazed Fried Steamed Bread 水激馍
Syrup-Glazed Fried Steamed Bread is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
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Syrup-Glazed Fried Steamed Bread (水激馍) is a sweet dish from Shangqiu (商丘) in Henan: blocks of leavened steamed bread are soaked in hot water, squeezed, deep-fried until golden and tossed in sugar syrup.
How it is made
The Henan Daily (河南日报) gives the method. Cooks start from hand-made steamed bread leavened with a starter (酵子馍) and cut it into thick blocks. The blocks are put into hot water until soaked through, lifted out and squeezed dry, then fried in hot oil until golden. Straight from the oil they go into sugar syrup and are turned until coated.
Flavour and texture
Syrup-Glazed Fried Steamed Bread is bright in colour, crisp outside and tender inside, and sweet and fragrant.
Where it comes from
The dish is traced to the old city of Guide (归德), today's Shangqiu, and has been handed down for more than 600 years. A local legend links it to Shen Li (沈鲤), a Guide man who rose to be a grand secretary of the Ming dynasty. A frugal cook in his household soaked the family's leftover steamed bread in water, fried it and steeped it in syrup; Shen Li tasted it by chance, liked it, and served it to guests whenever he entertained in the capital. When he retired home at eighty and the emperor visited him in Guide, he offered the emperor the dish, and the emperor praised it. The Henan Daily calls it a signature local food of Shangqiu today.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Geji braised flatbread strips 葛记焖饼 →
Both turn everyday Henan wheat bread into a dish, but Shangqiu's version is soaked, deep-fried and glazed with syrup as a sweet, while the other is a savoury braise.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.