Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist

Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist

　　A traditional Tianjin breakfast food, named for its stick-like shape. The making of Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist is meticulous: depending on the season, different proportions of alkaline, alum, salt, and water are mixed, kneaded thoroughly, and then cut into strips with a knife. Small cubes are sliced off, stretched into shape, and deep-fried in hot oil until cooked. It boasts excellent savory, fragrant, and crispy qualities. These treats are commonly sold at street-side stalls in the morning.

　　In earlier years, a story circulated in Tianjin. After the Song Dynasty treacherous minister Qin Hui and his wife Wang murdered the loyal hero Yue Fei, they intensified their tyranny by torturing to death innocent scholars who spoke up for Yue Fei under false charges, sparking public outrage. One brave man named Shi Quan was beheaded for attempting to assassinate Qin Hui. Learning that Qin Hui planned to exterminate their entire family, Shi Quan’s brother Shi Zhong and his wife fled from Lin’an (now Hangzhou), disguised as fishermen. They traveled north via the Grand Canal to Tianjin, settled by the Sancha River, and changed their name to Zhu Qinhuì (a homophone for “punish Qin Hui”). To make a living, they switched from selling peanuts to deep-fried snacks. They cut dough into small pieces, stacked two together, stretched them into strips, and deep-fried them thoroughly, naming the result “Deep-Fried Qin” (油炸桧), symbolizing the wish to fry Qin Hui and his wife to death and have people chew them up in anger. The snack quickly became popular—though exhausting to make, selling “Deep-Fried Qin” both vented public fury and earned money, bringing the couple joy. Even years after Qin Hui’s death, although the snack remained deliciously crispy, the public’s hatred for Qin Hui led them to start calling it “Deep-Fried Ghost” (油炸鬼), colloquially shortened to “Ghost” (油鬼) or “Deep-Fried Qin” (油桧), and eventually “Youtiao” (油条, fried dough stick). By the Qing Dynasty, due to its stick-like shape, it had become widely known as “Stick-shaped Fried Pastry” (棒槌馃子), a name still used today.

　　There are many varieties of fried dough snacks, with over thirty types including Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist, large and small fried dough cakes, pot heads, sugar-skinned twists, three-cut sugar twists, tiger claws, gold ingot grids, looped twists, fried noodles, long dough strips, diamond crisps, flower grids (commonly called flower lace), and more. Among them, the Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist is the most common and beloved. “Fried dough snacks” (馃子) is the general term for all these varieties.

　　A traditional Tianjin breakfast food, named for its stick-like shape. The making of Stick-shaped Fried Dough Twist is meticulous: depending on the season, different proportions of alkaline, alum, salt, and water are mixed, kneaded thoroughly, and then cut into strips with a knife. Small cubes are sliced off, stretched into shape, and deep-fried in hot oil until cooked. The result is savory, fragrant, and crispy. These treats are commonly sold at street-side stalls in the morning.