Hubei · breakfast
Mian Wo (Savoury Fried Dough Rings)
面窝 · Miànwō
Wuhan ring-shaped savoury fried-dough breakfast item. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside.
Mian wo is a Wuhan breakfast — a ring-shaped doughnut-like item made from rice-and-soy-flour batter, deep-fried in oil to a golden ring with a hole in the middle. Sold from breakfast carts in pairs or trios. Dust with cumin or chilli powder for an even better version. ~¥3 each.
Where to try
Wuhan: Hubu Alley and street carts.
Dietary notes
Wheat (some versions), soy, oil. Typically vegetarian.
Cities to try Mian Wo (Savoury Fried Dough Rings)
Other central dishes
- Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork毛氏红烧肉
Hunan-style slow-braised pork belly in soy, Shaoxing wine and chilli — the dish Mao Zedong reportedly ate weekly in Zhongnanhai.
- Doupi (Wuhan Tofu Skin)豆皮
Wuhan breakfast: layered pan-fried tofu skin and rice cake with mushroom, ham and bamboo shoots inside.
- Fish Head with Chopped Chilli剁椒鱼头
A whole silver carp head blanketed with fermented chopped red chilli and steamed until the flesh is silky and fiery.
- Hunan Chilli Fried Pork小炒肉
Thin-sliced pork belly wok-fried with fresh long green chillies and fermented black beans — Hunan's most-ordered everyday dish.