Snack Attack: Meet the Youtiao That's Actually Dessert

原创 Ana Padilla F. theBeijinger

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Snack Attack is your weekly guide to the sometimes flavorful, sometimes smelly, sometimes odd munchies to be had in the capital.

You know how Murphy’s Law goes, right? A tumbling toast will land butter face on the floor. Personally, I believe we all have our iterations of this lovely adage. Wanna know mine? Every time I happen to be dressed not to impress, I end up going places. Some important work meeting, an impromptu date somewhere fancy, a visit to the China World Hotel, you name it. I’ll be there in whatever (clean!) rags I fished out of my wardrobe in the morning before rushing out.

The departure point of a sweet story

And so the story begins with me walking downtown on a random weekday evening, dear reader. I was dressed in athleisure wear for the gym that I did not actually want to hit. Cue in some WeChat scrolling and a far more tempting option emerged: chocolate youtiao from a bakery called The Sweet Spot+. Not too far away from me, actually! This bakery is located in the CBD at… the China World Hotel. Look, what's a girl to do?

Why, of course

Some aspects of Chinese culture you only unlock after a number of years in the country. 油条 yóutiáo is not one of those. Much like God, they are heavenly, omnipresent and have many names. They hail from China, but they're also a breakfast staple in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines. These deep-fried, golden-brown long strips of dough sure make for an oily bite, as they damn well should. Their best companion is a heaping bowl of rice congee, soymilk or regular milk mixed with sugar. Such is the tradition.

Well, at The Sweet Spot+ they invoked the inspiration that comes with the budding spring to depart from this tradition and offer something that looked really, really good in their promotional post —dirty youtiao. Though they still define them as a breakfast item, these scream dessert to me. They came in three flavors: chocolate, matcha with red bean filling and durian, and I set out with barely an hour before closing time, ready to taste the first two.

(Not) dressed for the surroundings

Another fun fact about me — I have a turbulent relationship with maps. Granted, my sense of direction isn't stellar to begin with, but I swear maps troll me sometimes. Such as this time. Arriving to the China World Mall was no problem, finding The Sweet Spot+ turned out to be a bit trickier.

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There I was, dressed in my gym clothes, schlepping from one luxury spot to the next with my sports bag and my heavy work backpack. Yes, I did end up hitting the reception of the incredibly fancy China World Hotel. It was a symphony of red and gold accents and no, The Sweet Spot+ was not there. But isn't this a funny stamp?

This isn't the sweet spot you're looking for

By then, youtiao were waving goodbye from their unreachable location, but I am not one to give up that easily. This is, by the way, a wonderful moment to pay attention to the name of the bakery: The Sweet Spot+. Plus. Read that again. What does that symbol mean? Well, it means that when you arrive to The Sweet Spot (without the plus!) that is located at street level on the actual outdoors of the mall, you will still be at the wrong spot (ha, ha).

You are looking for the one that is inside the mall, on the underground floor, nearby other cafes and eateries. I guess what I am saying at this point is, go ask a concierge. Don't be like me. Only the god of sweet treats, in his sugary mercy, made it so that somehow, when I finally found The Sweet Spot+, they were still open.

This is the place you want to find!

Hallelujah! My tenacity was rewarded — and my dumb tour avenged — with a treat that is well worth my visit, at the surprisingly affordable price of RMB 15. In fact, the whole menu at this café was rather reasonably priced and featured quite a few items that I'd be happy to grab for lunch or tea. The youtiao are fried on demand, sprinkled with icing sugar to offset the bitterness of the original fritter and then…well, then it's up to your flavor of choice.

The chocolate youtiao (see lead image above) was pure decadence and assuaged the fears that I have from previous disappointments in life (chocolate bubble crêpes, I'm looking at you). You'll have to forgive me for passing on the durian, but I did actually order the matcha with red bean and I was very pleasantly surprised. Both made, bags and all, for a much more flavourful evening than any gym class could possibly offer.