Street food & snacks 街头小吃

City God Temple spiced beans 城隍庙五香豆

The skin can be resilient, with a dense interior and a lingering aromatic sweetness. They are best eaten slowly in small quantities.

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Jinshan fish cakes 金山米鱼饼

Expect a tender, cohesive fish texture rather than the flaky layers of a whole cooked fillet.

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Fresh Pork Mooncakes 鲜肉月饼

The main contrast is flaky pastry against a moist, seasoned filling. A freshly served piece may be hot inside even when the surface feels comfortable to touch.

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Shanghai Fried Rice Cakes 粢饭糕

The contrast comes from the crust and the softer grains beneath it. This is generally a savoury breakfast snack; the word cake should not suggest a frosted dessert or a sweet sponge.

Baked Flatbread with Fried Dough 大饼油条

The appeal is the contrast between the bread and the light, crisp dough stick. Choosing a sweet flatbread changes the balance, so check the bread variety rather than expecting every stall to use the same version.

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Shanghai Radish Fritters 油墩子

The radish filling supplies a different texture from a solid fried dough cake. Seafood additions can change the flavour, so the plain-looking exterior does not tell the whole story.

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Suzhou rice-flour sweets 苏式糕团

Textures range from soft and crumbly to elastic and sticky, so appearance alone does not predict the bite. Most are gently sweet and suited to tea.

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Clam-and-seaweed cakes 文蛤紫菜饼

The clams bring briny sweetness and a slight chew, while seaweed supplies a marine aroma. A crisp outside contrasts with the softer center.

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Changzhou sesame pastries 常州大麻糕

The pastry breaks into crisp, flaky layers with a strong toasted-sesame aroma. A sweet version is a tea snack, while a savory one feels more like a substantial breakfast bread.

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Nantong oyster fritters 南通蛎岈饼

A crisp, savoury shell gives way to soft oyster and vegetables. The interior can be hot even after the exterior cools.

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Plum Blossom Cake 梅花糕

Plum Blossom Cake (梅花糕) is a baked cake with a wheat-flour shell and a sweet red bean paste filling, sold hot from street stalls in Nanjing (南京).

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Magnolia Fried Rice Cakes 玉兰饼

Magnolia Fried Rice Cakes (玉兰饼) are a local snack of Wuxi (无锡) in Jiangsu: a glutinous rice-flour cake, filled and fried in oil, named because it was made and sold while the magnolias were in flower.

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