Charred Nest Oil Cake

Charred Nest Oil Cake

　　Charred Nest Oil Cake. The nest oil cake is made by steaming glutinous rice, stuffing it with red bean paste, shaping it into a round form with a central hollow, and then deep-frying it. In the early 1940s, Jiao Chunting from Cuiqiao in Chengdu came to Kang and opened an oil cake shop next to the Weile Theatre (now the location of the county cultural center), where famous Sichuan opera performers from Bashu once staged plays. His oil cakes were fragrant, sweet, crispy, and crunchy—golden on the outside, soft and sweet within—winning great popularity. He also supplied others who sold them by street hawking. At that time, it was common to hear street vendors calling out, “Charred nest oil cakes (with a r-sound suffix), hot off the pan!” For a while, Jiao’s oil cakes became widely celebrated across Lucheng and developed into a renowned local snack.