Shuangbaotai (simplified Chinese: 双胞胎; traditional Chinese: 雙胞胎; pinyin: shuāngbāotāi) is a sweet fried dough food of Hokchew origin commonly found as a Taiwanese street food. It is a chewy fried dough containing large air pockets on the inside and a crisp crust on the outside. It is made by twisting two small pieces of dough together and frying them, causing them to separate slightly while remaining connected.[1]
The Mandarin Chinese name of this food, shuāngbāotāi (Chinese: 雙胞胎) meaning "twins", is derived from the fact that the dish is two pastries twisted slightly together as if conjoined twins. The Taiwanese Hokkien name is 馬花糋 (bé-hoe-chìⁿ), which roughly means "horse-hoof cake", also in reference to its shape. Another Hokkien name is 雙生仔 (siang-siⁿ-á) meaning twins.
In Taiwan, shuangbaotai are a type of snack (xiaochi) typically sold by hawkers at street stalls or in night markets, but not in regular restaurants or bakeries.