Sesame Oil Fried Dough Twist

Sesame Oil Fried Dough Twist

　　Walking near Fish Alley, you might sometimes catch the sesame oil fried dough twists just coming out of the pot, their distinctive aroma slowly wafting through the air. The fragrance is so inviting, you can smell it even two alleys away.

　　　　The sesame oil fried dough twists in Zhenjiang use locally produced small-grind sesame oil, making them crispy and flaky—getting more fragrant the more you chew. Even today, many elderly locals in Zhenjiang still enjoy eating sesame oil fried dough twists with tea. Some people cook the twists as if they were noodles, boiling them in a pot of hot water, then serving them in a bowl, seasoned either with salt or sugar; others keep it simple, breaking the twists into pieces in a large bowl, adding white sugar, pouring in hot water, covering the bowl, and letting it steam for a while.

　　　　Some families still have the tradition of giving fried dough twists to women who have just given birth. It’s said that in the past, when a new mother was in her confinement period, her mother-in-law would always buy two or three handfuls of sesame oil fried dough twists. She’d toss a handful into a pot of boiling water, add an egg, and once the water boiled again, pour it all into a big bowl, add a spoonful of brown sugar—it was incredibly nourishing.

　　　　Of course, there are also parents who buy them back for their kids as an after-school or after-meal snack. The sound of “crunch crunch” as the kids chew, the more flavorful it gets the more they eat, often leads one child to start, and then the others nearby, drawn by the aroma, can’t help but beg for some too. Eventually, both adults and children end up munching on sesame oil fried dough twists together.

　　　　There’s an old saying in Zhenjiang: “If you don’t eat qier (a type of rice ball) and fried dough twists during Qingming, the King of Hell will spank you after you die.” I’ve always wondered why eating sesame oil fried dough twists during Qingming is so essential. After looking into some sources, I learned that this commonly seen food, the “fried dough twist,” actually has a long and storied history.

　　　　Sesame oil fried dough twists were anciently known as “hanju” (cold fare). Why did the ancients call them hanju? Because they were food meant for the Cold Food Festival.

　　　　The ancients designated the 105th day after the Winter Solstice as the Cold Food Festival, which is also the precursor to the Qingming Festival. The Cold Food Festival originated from the Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period, when Duke Wen of Jin mourned Jie Zitui, who had shared hardships with him. On this day, it was customary not to light a fire for cooking, hence the name “Cold Food Festival.” But people still needed to eat. So our ancestors invented foods that could be eaten cold without cooking: strips of flour dough twisted into rings or lattice shapes, then pan-fried. Since these were specially made for the Cold Food Festival, the ancients called them “cold fare.” These fried, ready-to-eat items could be consumed at any time—chewed dry or soaked in water—and were also very portable. Gradually, they became more than just festival food. It’s said that during the Han Dynasty, fried dough twists were already an indispensable “snack” in the daily lives of the nobility.

　　　　There are many interesting anecdotes about sesame oil fried dough twists. At the home of Huan Xuan, a minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the twists were first pan-fried, then mixed with honey. When guests came over, Huan Xuan would serve them “honey-fried dough twists.” Huan Xuan loved art and calligraphy, and sometimes he would admire paintings and calligraphy works while treating his guests to the sweet twists. Oftentimes, some guests, after eating the twists, wouldn’t wash their hands and would end up smudging the artwork with oil. Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty favored Li Shishi, a famous courtesan in Dongjing (today’s Kaifeng). Among the royal gifts he gave her—including gold, silver, various premium teas, and artistic lanterns—were “several boxes of cold fare and silver cakes.” The fried dough twists stored in food boxes were a high-end gift the emperor gave to the woman he adored.

　　　　The meal between lunch and dinner is called “eating the afternoon” in the old Zhenjiang dialect. “Eating the afternoon” is a truly comforting thing. In the late afternoon, when you warm up a bowl of sesame oil fried dough twists, the aroma is simply “awesome.” Once you take a bite, it feels like noodles—but smoother and softer, more tender than noodles; plus, that fragrant, slightly sweet taste goes down smoothly with a “slurp slurp,” and after finishing the bowl, you break into a sweat and your pores all open up—it’s really “the ultimate comfort”! After eating, with a smack of your lips and a rub of your full belly, you almost wish you could have another bowl.

　　　　Sesame oil fried dough twists, this ancient food with such a long history, offers so much nostalgia and warmth to the young and old of Zhenjiang. May the fragrance of these dough twists, along with our traditional customs, continue to be passed down.