Yundou Gao (griddle cake)
×Yundou gao (rice-batter griddle cake)
Why you must eat itA batter of rice flour and a fermented starter poured into a special iron mould of round wells and griddled golden on both sides over charcoal — a small cake. Crisp and fragrant outside, light and fluffy within. Faintly sweet, with the fermented scent of rice wine (jiuniang) lingering. Best straight off the griddle, since it loses its texture cold, so eat it standing on the spot. In the old-town morning, cakes lifted one by one from the mould are a landmark in the lane.
Yundou gao is an old griddle cake of Chongqing and Sichuan, its name said to come from the mould resembling an old flat-iron (yundou). Once griddled at street corners as breakfast or a snack, it has grown rarer as its makers dwindled, and is now a nostalgic taste often found in old towns like Ciqikou. Cheap and sold by the piece, it is an easy sweet bite between spicy plates.
- Nearest
- Ciqikou Stn
- Hours
- 08:00-19:00
- Price
- 3–5 CNY each