Hot salt frying

Hot salt frying and hot sand frying are cooking techniques used by street-side food vendors in Pakistan, China and India.

Hot salt frying

In Pakistan, hot salt frying is mostly used by street vendors to cook corn. Rock salt is preheated in a wok. Either the whole corn or individual kernels are buried in the salt and occasionally turned.

Coarse sea salt is placed in a large wok and heated to a high temperature. Dry food items, such as eggs in shell, are buried in the hot salt and occasionally turned with a spatula.

In India, this technique is used by street vendors sell shelled peanuts or popcorn cooked in salt heated in an iron wok.

At times beef steak is fried in this manner - by preheating the frying-pan and salt and the placing steak on it on one side for a minute and then on the other side for two minutes depending on the thickness and how well one wants it.

Hot sand frying

Chestnuts in hot black sand, prepared by a street-side hawker.

Hot sand frying is a common cooking technique for street-side food vendors in China and India to cook chestnuts and peanuts. A large wok is filled with black sand and heated to high temperature. Nuts are buried in the hot sand and occasionally turned with a spatula, then the sand and nuts are separated through a wire-mesh screen.

See also

• Chinese cuisine