Zhaliang is made by tightly wrapping a rice noodle roll around youtiao, the crisp fried dough stick. The contrast between the soft, slippery rice noodle and the airy, crunchy center is the dish’s defining feature.
Zhaliang is a Cantonese dim sum and breakfast food associated with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. The rice noodle sheet is wrapped around the fried dough while the youtiao is still the central component, producing a long roll that is cut into pieces for serving.
Restaurants commonly drizzle zhaliang with soy sauce, hoisin sauce or sesame paste and may sprinkle it with sesame seeds. It is also eaten alongside soy milk or congee, linking it to the broader Chinese breakfast tradition in which youtiao is dipped into or paired with soft foods.
The fried dough is sometimes transliterated as youjagwai in Cantonese contexts, but the standard Mandarin name is youtiao. Zhaliang should not be confused with a wonton, mantou or nian gao: those are different dumpling, bun and rice-cake foods.