Heze Mianpao Fried Dough Puffs 菏泽面泡

Heze Mianpao Fried Dough Puffs (菏泽面泡) are a deep-fried flour snack from Heze (菏泽), Shandong, and Dazhong calls mianpao the mainstay of the Heze breakfast. They are fried the same way as youtiao (油条), the long fried dough sticks, but come out cake-shaped instead of long like a stick.

Flavour and texture

Qilu Net describes a freshly fried mianpao as crisp on the bottom and puffy on top, with a honeycomb of linked holes inside. Dazhong gives the taste as salty and savoury, crisp outside and soft within, while a youtiao fries up crisper.

How it is eaten

The usual Heze pairing is a few mianpao with a bowl of hulatang (胡辣汤), the peppery breakfast soup. Dazhong describes the local soup as based on beef-bone stock with washed wheat gluten, pepper and vinegar; people dip a honeycombed mianpao into it for about three seconds and lift it out while it is soft outside and still chewy inside. Qilu Net adds that mianpao also go well with soy milk or dressed as a cold dish.

Where it comes from

Dazhong has called mianpao a food calling card of Heze, part of everyday life and a taste of home that people from the city miss when they are away. In 2024 Heze Mianpao Fried Dough Puffs were one of seven Heze dishes chosen for the 100 rural dishes of the 'Taste of Qilu' (舌尖上的齐鲁) selection, run with guidance from the Shandong Department of Culture and Tourism; expert judges picked the 100 from 870 entries.