WENZHOU, China – The accurate, but not very exotic, name of this gleaming globe is fried sesame ball.
Chinese soccer ball. Image by Tom Adkinson.
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You may see fried sesame balls in some Chinese restaurants in North America, but they are more likely the size of tennis balls instead of soccer balls. The maker of this gem is one of the culinary masters at the popular Tian Yi Jiao restaurant in Wenzhou, a city of more than eight million people located an hour’s flight south of Shanghai. Wenzhou is well known as a manufacturing center, and it now is promoting its culinary, cultural and natural attractions to leisure travelers. An extensive education in the region’s cuisine is available at the Tian Yi Jiao restaurant, where a massive open kitchen is visible behind impressive displays of cooked and ready-to-be-cooked food.