Name/Description (e.g. fried rice stand, xiaolongbao): Chinese cruller + Soymilk
Specialty (named dish): Youtiao + Doujiang
Location/Area (address or cross-street): Zhaozhou Road and Jianguo Xin Road
Fixed or Moving: Fixed
Time of Day: 11pm-3am
Comments:
This street food is not a stand or a hole-in-the-wall. It is located on a street side corner where tables are scattered on the sidewalk and along the street where locals eat and play games of mahjong or cards. A man serves either salty or sweet soy milk out of a bowl before handing it to you to take to your table. You place your order for youtiao, which is communicated to a woman perpendicular to the man rolling out fresh dough and deep-frying it on the spot. Dried pieces of baby shrimp are added to the salty soy milk along with minced pieces of pickled mustard tuber, cilantro, chili oil, and soy sauce. The saltiness causes the soy milk to curdle and turn into something resembling a cross between tofu soup and egg drop soup. Both the sweet and salty douhua pair well with the youtiao.
Review (how many times have you frequented this place?, how does it compare to other stalls making the same dish? How popular is it etc.) I’ve frequented this place three times now, and each time it is packed with locals. The youtiao here is what is truly special and popular among the locals–eaten right away, it is lighter, softer and thinner than most youtiao which are thick and chewy. The place is so popular among locals that they get dropped off by taxi at that street corner just to get in line and wait for their serving.