Cong Bao Gui (Scallion and Fried Dough Wrap)
A thin wheat pancake wrapped tightly around a fried dough stick and spring onions, pressed flat on a hot griddle until crisp and brushed with sweet bean sauce and chilli sauce.
How to eat it
It is handed over in a paper sleeve, folded once. Hold it by the paper and bite from the end, because the pancake is pressed thin and the dough stick inside shatters. The vendor brushes on both sauces by default; watch and say something if you want only the sweet one. Eat it within a minute or two, as the pancake loses its crispness quickly. It is dry on its own, so locals pair it with a bowl of soy milk or a cup of tea from the same stall.
The story behind the dish
The name means "wrapped Hui" and refers to Qin Hui, the Southern Song chancellor blamed for the execution of the general Yue Fei, whose tomb stands by West Lake. Folklore says a Hangzhou vendor shaped dough into a figure of Qin Hui and his wife, twisted them together and fried them in oil, so that customers could take out their anger by eating him. The fried dough stick is still called "you zha gui" in the local dialect, and wrapping it in a pancake with spring onion produced the snack sold today. The story is legend, but the dish has been a fixture of the old town for generations.
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.
If you have an allergy or something you can't eat, check with the staff before you order.