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The Popular Chinese Snacks with Menu

The Popular Chinese Snacks with Menu

Written by Candice SongUpdated Nov. 20, 2023

China has many interesting, original and tasty snacks, many of which are more nutritious and natural than chocolate, sweets and chips. A broad selection are listed below with Chinese romanization, pronunciation and Chinese characters. Chinese snacks are often sold in small shops on the backstreets or at mobile roadside stalls.

Popular Snacks

Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes

Sweet Potatoes and Corn

Sweet potatoes are an important part of winter in China, especially the North of the country. If you visit Beijing, you'll see it is one of the many street snacks in the city or at Beijing's snack streets and snack shops . Many carts by the side of the road sell roast sweet potatoes throughout the country, or kao hongshu 烤红薯 /cow hong-shoe/, which are hot and extremely tasty. Another variation of a sweet potato snack are sweet potato chips, or hongshupian 红薯片 /hong-shoe pyen/. These can be bought either by the side of the road, or at supermarkets.

Another popular snack is corn on the cob, or yumi 玉米 /you-me/. Corn is boiled in hobs on the street, and are cheap and tasty. Definitely a more nutritional snack than chocolate or chips.

Nuts and Seeds

Tanghulu, the Beijing toffee apple Tanghulu is an old Beijing-style snack: skewered crabapples dipped in liquid sugar and dried.

Then there are delicious the roasted chestnuts, lizi 栗子 /lee-dzuh/. These can be bought hot and are especially popular during autumn and winter. But perhaps even more popular are sunflower seeds (guazi 瓜子 /gwaa-dzrr/) the eating of which is somewhat of a national sport in China.

Everywhere people are waiting, whether it be sitting on a train or bus, waiting for a seat at a restaurant, or just hanging out on the street, you will see people eating sunflower seeds. Most people are able to eat them without the fumbling and opening, eating them at an incredible speed, throwing the empty husks on the floor. Empty sunflower seed husks are found everywhere as a result.

It doesn't end at sunflower seeds though, as pumpkin seeds, or nangua zi 南瓜子 /nan-gwaa dzrr/, are also a popular snack, especially in summer.

Chinese Snacks Menu

English Chinese Pronunciation Characters
Taiwanese Meatballs ròu yuán Roh ywen 肉圆
Rice and Meat Dumplings ròu wán Roh wann 肉丸
Smelly Tofu chòu dòufu Choh doh-foo 臭豆腐
Tofu Pudding dòuhuā Doh-hwaa 豆花
Dried Tofu dòufu gān Doh-foo gan 豆腐干
Oily Bean Curd yóu dòufu Yoh doh-foo 油豆腐
Spicy Hot Bean Curd málà dòufu Maa laa doh-foo 麻辣豆腐
Soybean Milk dòujiāng Doh-jyang 豆浆
Fried Bread Stick yóutiáo Yoh-tyaoww 油条
Prawn Crackers xiā piàn Sshyaa pyen 虾片
Shrimp Balls xiā qiú Sshyaa chyoh 虾球
Spring Rolls chūnjuǎn Chwnn jwen 春卷
Egg Rolls dàn juǎn Dan jwen 蛋卷
Steamed Buns mántou Man-toh 馒头
Steamed Stuffed Buns bāozi Baoww-dzrr 包子
Clay Oven Rolls shāobǐng Shaoww-bing 烧饼
Salty Rice Pudding wǎn gāo Wan gaoww 碗糕
Rice Tube Pudding tǒng zǐ mǐ gāo Tong dzeye mee gaoww 筒仔米糕
Rolling Donkey (Fried Chopped Rice Cake) lǘ dǎgǔn Loo da-gwnn 驴打滚
Red Bean Cake hóngdòu gāo Hong-doh gaoww 红豆糕
Green Bean Paste Cake lǜdòugāo Lyoo-doh gaoww 绿豆糕
Glutinous Rice Cakes nuòmǐ gāo Nwor-mee gaoww 糯米糕
Fried White Radish Patty luóbo gāo Lwor-bor gaoww 萝卜糕
Taro Cake yùtou gāo Yoo-toh gaoww 芋头糕
Eight Treasures Ice Lolly bābǎo bīng Baa-baoww bing 八宝冰
Red Bean with Milk Ice Lolly hóngdòu niúnǎi bīng Hong-doh nyoh-neye bing 红豆牛奶冰
Candied Gourd on a Stick bīngtánghúlu Bing-tung hoo-loo 冰糖葫芦

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Enjoying Chinese food in a local restaurantEnjoying Chinese food in a local restaurant

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