Long County Oil Spiral Bread

Long County Oil Spiral Bread

　　A traditional specialty food from Long County. In the third year of the Xuantong era (1911), Yang Qingxiu, a renowned late-Qing Dynasty chef from Long County, opened a stir-fry restaurant on the north side of West Avenue in the county town, also offering baked goods. The business flourished and gained widespread fame. After Yang’s death, his son, Yang Guixiang, inherited the family trade and became particularly skilled in making the oil spiral bread passed down by his father. In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), Yang passed on his skills to Yan Hancheng. Yan studied diligently and made rapid progress, eventually surpassing others in crafting oil spiral bread. He ranked first among the three most famous bakers in the county—Chen Mingde, Liu Qinxue, and Gao Tiangui—and his techniques have been passed down to this day.

　　Preparation method: Place high-grade wheat flour in a basin, add fermented dough, water, and mix into a dough crumb, then knead into a dough ball and cover tightly with a damp cloth. Once proofed, add rapeseed oil, refined salt, edible alkali, and five-spice powder (mainly Sichuan peppercorn), and knead thoroughly until evenly mixed to form the oil spiral dough. Divide the dough into small portions, roll each out with a rolling pin, sprinkle each with ground walnuts, cut each in half with a knife, twist them tightly, flatten, and shape into round discs to form the oil spiral dough pieces. Brush a layer of rapeseed oil on a cast-iron griddle, heat it with charcoal fire, place the dough pieces on it, and bake for about 5 minutes until cooked.

　　Characteristics: Reddish-brown color (date red), crispy, fragrant and savory, delicious and tasty.