Tianjin breakfast at Garage Restaurant

A typical Tianjin breakfast  (Clasrissa Wei / For The Times)

Fried dough with brown sugar. The Chinese name is tang pi.  (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)

The bulk of the dish is silken tofu, but the steaming, glutinous broth is more than enough to carry one through a cold Chinese winter morning.   (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)

A dish of gabacai is composed of mung bean flakes drenched in a thick gravy of chili oil, light soy sauce, fermented milk, sesame sauce and parsley.   (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)

Tianjin-style buns are filled with seasoned pork.  (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)

Inside a spongy egg crepe is a thin layer of mung bean and youtiao, a Chinese version of a fried cruller.   (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)

A Tianjin feast of Chinese crullers, jianbing guozi, pork-filled buns, tofu “brain” soup, drenched mung bean crepes and a large fried doughnut covered in brown sugar.  (Clarissa Wei / For The Times)