Shuangbaotai (simplified Chinese: 双胞胎; traditional Chinese: 雙胞胎; pinyin: shuāngbāotāi) is a sweet fried dough food of Hokchew origin commonly found as a Taiwanese street food. It is a chewy fried dough containing large air pockets on the inside and a crisp crust on the outside. It is made by twisting two small pieces of dough together and frying them, causing them to separate slightly while remaining connected.[1]
 Fried shuangbaotai with sesame seeds | |
| Type | Doughnut |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Fuzhou |
| Main ingredients | Dough |
| 雙胞胎 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 雙胞胎 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 双胞胎 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | twins | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Minnan name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 馬花糋 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 马花糋 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | horse hoof cake | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Names
The Mandarin Chinese name of this food, shuāngbāotāi (Chinese: 雙胞胎) meaning "twins", is derived from the fact that the dish is two pastries twisted slightly together as if conjoined twins. The Taiwanese Hokkien name is 馬花糋 (bé-hoe-chìⁿ), which roughly means "horse-hoof cake", also in reference to its shape. Another Hokkien name is 雙生仔 (siang-siⁿ-á) meaning twins.
Regional
In Taiwan, shuangbaotai are a type of snack (xiaochi) typically sold by hawkers at street stalls or in night markets, but not in regular restaurants or bakeries.
Shuangbaotai sold as xiaochi street food
See also
- Taiwanese cuisine
- Fuzhou cuisine
- Fujian cuisine
- List of desserts
- List of doughnut varieties
- List of fried dough varieties
Food portal
Other Chinese fried dough dishes
References
External links
- YTower — A famous maker of shuangbaotai (in Chinese)
- Shuangbaotai Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine at Chiayi Tourism Bureau website — includes photos of shuangabotai (in Chinese)