What is it
Fried Glutinous Rice Cake
Rectangular blocks of seasoned rice fried until crisp outside and soft within.
At the table
How to eat it
Hold it by the paper or wrapper and wait briefly before biting, since the dense centre retains heat after frying.
Culture
The story behind the dish
Pressed cooked rice is chilled until firm, cut into rectangular blocks and fried. The word gao means cake here, but this is a savoury rice cake rather than a sweet pastry. It became part of Shanghai breakfast culture and was also a practical way for households to reuse cooked rice from the previous day.
Reference
For reference
Every kitchen does it its own way. What follows is the typical version — ingredients, heat and price shift from city to city and from one restaurant to the next, so take it as a guide rather than a fixed recipe.
SpicinessNot spicy
Main ingredientRice / Oil / Salt
FlavourSavoury, crisp, chewy
Suitable forVegetarian
Usually servedHot
Good forBreakfast / Snack
Where it is fromShanghai and the Jiangnan region
Ordering tipOrder it by the piece; it is normally savoury and doesn't require a sauce. You can say “yí kuài cīfàngāo” (一块粢饭糕), meaning “one piece of fried rice cake.”
Last updated 2026-09-05
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