Hot salt frying

Hot salt frying is a technique used by street side food vendors in China.

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

This technique was also observed in San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, along the zocalo, in July of 1991. A vendor had placed a large clay cazuela on top of a 4-legged, waist high charcoal brazier. The cazuela was filled with coarse salt. After the salt became hot, the vendor toasted/fried pepitas, or pumpkin seeds in their shells in the hot salt, stirring them with a slotted spoon. When the seeds were "done", the vendor spooned them into tiny paper bags and sold them to strollers in the zocalo for an afternoon or evening snack.

This technique is also seen in India where street vendors sell shelled peanuts or popcorn cooked in salt heated in an iron wok.