Pan-Fried Starch Jelly 焖子
Pan-Fried Starch Jelly is featured among the local specialties of Liaoning.
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Pan-Fried Starch Jelly (焖子) is a local snack in Dandong (丹东). Starch and water are cooked into a jelly, cooled into a firm block, then cut into small pieces for frying and dressing.
How it is made
The Liaoning Department of Culture and Tourism describes first diluting the starch with water and letting it settle. Water carrying floating impurities is poured off, then fresh water is mixed in according to the desired firmness. The mixture goes into a cold pot and is heated until transparent, then removed to set.
Asia Tourism Exchange Center describes cutting the translucent block into squares about two or three centimetres across. These are cooked with oil in a flat frying pan until a slight crust forms.
How it is eaten
The fried pieces are plated and dressed with soy sauce, vinegar, sesame paste and shrimp oil. Ready-made blocks of menzi are also sold in local markets.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.