Fried Batter Cake
A ladleful of rice-and-wheat batter mixed with shredded radish and spring onion, deep-fried in a small mould until golden and crisp, eaten hot from a paper bag.
How to eat it
The vendor fills a long-handled metal mould with batter and radish, lowers it into the oil and knocks the cake out once it has set, then fries it loose until brown. Take it in a paper bag and eat it with your fingers, starting at the edge where it is crispest. The inside stays soft and steamy, so bite carefully. It is greasy by design and best eaten within minutes. Locals often pair it with a bowl of soy milk or rice porridge, or buy it as a side to take home with breakfast.
The story behind the dish
Fried batter cakes of this kind are found across Zhejiang under different names, and the Quzhou version is part of the same family of cheap street food built around a wok of oil and a mould. Radish is the traditional filling because it was the cheapest vegetable available through the winter and its water keeps the centre soft while the outside crisps. There is no famous origin story attached to it; it is the kind of food that was sold from a cart outside the market long before anyone wrote about it, and it is still sold the same way today.
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.