Xiangning Oil Cake

Xiangning Oil Cake

　　Xiangning Oil Cake

　　Ingredients for making Xiangning Oil Cake:

　　500g of flour, 600g of water, 150g of sugar, and 150g of mixed oil (animal and vegetable oil). Introduction to Xiangning Oil Cake:

　　The eighth day of the fourth lunar month is the ancient fair at the “Jieyi Temple” in Xiangning County, also known as the “Oil Cake Fair.” During the fair, within an area of less than one square kilometer, there can be as many as thirty to fifty oil cake stalls, both state-run and collectively operated. Visitors take pleasure in eating as much oil cake as they can. Elderly people or those who are ill and unable to come to the county town for the fair will ask others to buy some oil cakes for them to enjoy at home. Xiangning Oil Cake is made with carefully selected ingredients and unique preparation methods, and is one of the distinctive snacks of Yao Township. It is famous both within and outside the province for its sweet, fragrant, and crispy taste, and is deeply loved by the general public. The characteristics of Xiangning Oil Cake:

　　Yellow, crispy, fragrant, and sweet. Here's how to make Xiangning Oil Cake:

　　1. Boil water in a pot until it reaches a rolling boil, then pour in the flour. When the mixture starts to bubble, stir it thoroughly with a wooden stick (add a little water if the dough is too stiff). Once the dough no longer sticks to your hands, transfer it to a work surface.

　　2. Spread the hot dough out using a clean, damp cloth, and use chopsticks to divide it into small pieces to release air. Once the dough has cooled, mix in dry flour at a ratio of 500g of hot dough to 150g of dry flour, in two batches, and knead until smooth. Let it rest for 2 hours in hot weather or 7–8 hours in cold weather to soften the dough. When wrapping the cake, mix in dry flour at a ratio of 500g of hot dough to 50g of dry flour and knead evenly to keep the outer layer of the cake crispy.

　　3. Place a small, smooth iron sheet on the work surface. Use your palm to press pieces of the hot dough into thin rounds on the iron sheet, then wrap them with sugar filling to form the cake blanks. Flatten the cake blanks with the iron sheet to make them smooth and round. Aim for about 30 pieces per 500g of dough.

　　4. Heat the oil in a pan to around 100°C, then add the cake blanks for frying. Do not add too many at once, and keep turning them during frying.

　　5. Place the fried oil cakes in a well-ventilated basket.

　　Key points for making Xiangning Oil Cake:

　　1. Pay attention to the heat. If the oil splatters violently, the heat is too high, which can cause the crust to blacken, the sugar to not dissolve properly, the cake to be undercooked, and the taste to be poor.

　　2. If the oil remains calm and only bubbles slightly, the heat is too low, which can cause the cake to peel, crack easily, the sugar to leak out, and the taste to be unsatisfactory.

　　3. The ideal heat is when the oil is gently bubbling and the cake blanks float to the surface as soon as they are added.