Mahua - Chinese vegan snack

While strolling in Chinatown in Yokohama the day before yesterday, I dropped in a few confectionaries to see if there were any vegan sweets. Unfortunately, mooncakes and many other sweets contained lard, but I found vegan snacks that I had seen before. These are mahua, deep-fried twisted dough sticks.

Though mahua are made also in Yokohama, these are from Nagasaki with the oldest Chinatown in Japan. Mahua are a specialty in Nagasaki and called also “Yoriyori” there. According to the package, they were introduced into Nagasaki around 1600.

The ingredients are simple: wheat flour, sugar, plant oil, salt, and expansion agent. Though they look like twisted doughnuts, they are hard and so crunchy that I hear a cracking sound as I eat them. They are good and not so sweet.