At the table
Eat the cooked seafood and starch cubes together with a little sauce. Let the hot cubes cool before biting. Ask which seafoods are included before ordering.
Contains shrimp, squid, clams and sesame. Compound sauces may also contain fish, other shellfish, soy or wheat. Small shell fragments may remain; chew carefully.
Seafood and sauce recipes vary by restaurant. The pictured shrimp-squid-clam combination is one version, not a fixed citywide recipe.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
The seafood selection varies. Some gravies use abalone sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, starch and MSG; seasonings are not identical everywhere.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Savory seafood, nutty sesame and pungent garlic, with a little sweetness and tang.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Chewy, soft-centered starch cubes with browned surfaces, tender shrimp and springy squid.
- How it’s made
- Cooked sweet-potato starch jelly is cut and pan-fried. Cooked seafood and a seasoned gravy are added, followed by sesame-garlic dressing.
The seafood selection varies. Some gravies use abalone sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, starch and MSG; seasonings are not identical everywhere.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Liaoning.
About this regional connection
Liaoning: Dalian seafood-topped version of local menzi.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有大连三鲜焖子吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
From a street snack to a seafood plate
Plain pan-fried menzi with garlic and sesame is a familiar Dalian snack. Adding seafood produces a fuller restaurant-style plate that brings together the starch cake and the coastal city’s seafood cooking.