Mahua & Gou Bu Li Bao

Today I tried two of Tianjin's famous local snacks: mahua (麻花) and gou bu li bao zi (狗不理包子). Mahua is a dough twist blended with a variety of spices including osmanthus, ginger and walnuts. There's an interesting story behind my mahua experience. It turns out that I've been eating mahua my whole life! My Tianjin friend wanted to take us to the original first mahua store to try authentic mahua. When I saw the mahua, I kept thinking it looked very familiar. Then I tried it and I thought, "wow this tastes and looks a little bit like mafa!" In Panama, we call mafa to a twisted fried dough snack. They sell it almost everywhere and I always thought it was a typical Panamanian snack. Then my friend started telling me how in northern China they can't pronounce the h, instead they replace it with an f. At the same time I was reading the mahua package and saw that the hua of mahua is the character for flower. In Panama most of the Chinese community (including my family) speak Cantonese. From my very limited Cantonese knowledge, I know the Cantonese pronunciation for flower is fa. Suddenly all pieces to the puzzle started falling into place. Mafa is mahua! I would have never thought mafa, a popular Panamanian snack, was of Chinese origin! Of course, it's not exactly the same but you can easily see the resemblance. This Tianjin mahua has more flavor thanks to the spices. They have even created other flavors such as hawthorn, mixed nuts, yellow bean, black sesame, among others. In Panama, I think they do not add any spices or flavors. Also, the Tianjin mahua is a more complex twist. They have from very small (size of a pen) to huge size mahuas (as long as a carry-on bag). 

the original flavor Mahua. It’s wasn’t the most delicious snack but it’s worth trying, makes a good companion to a cup warm tea.

The mafa I grew up eating in Panama! You can see it’s just a simple twist. They also only come in one size.

assorted mahua flavors

The mafa I know is probably more like these xiao (small) mahua

After indulging in Mahua, our friend took us to the original Gou Bu Li Bao Dian. Gou Bu Li Bao Zi is a typical Tianjin steamed bun. The bun is really thin, they come with various filling from meat to veggies and are about 2.5 inches wide. The literal translation of Gou Bu Li is "dogs ignore”. You should not be intimidated by the name because these little buns are delicious! As the legend says, the odd name comes from its founder childhood nickname. My Tianjin friend said when you’re given an ugly name, it’s supposed to protect you from bad luck. Already famous among the locals, the buns became even more famous when the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty tried them and proclaimed them delicious. 

delicious spinach salad

pork and vegetables gou bu li bao

these baozi were filled with soup! To make them, they first have to make the soup and freeze it into molds like ice cubes. Then before steaming the bun they take the frozen soup and put the wrapping. 

This weekend I’m planning to visit Beijing one last time. I can’t believe how fast time is passing! We’re almost halfway through the semester. Next week, on Wednesday, we are already moving to Shanghai!! Over the past few weeks I’ve heard so many good things about Shanghai that my expectations are really high. Although I’m very excited that I will finally visit Shanghai, I’ll be sad to say goodbye to all the good friends I’ve made in Tianjin.