Hot Salt Frying

Hot salt frying is an old cooking technique used by street vendors and households across villages in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and other parts of Asia. Coarse sea salt is heated to a high temperature in a wok, and dry food, such as eggs still in their shell, is buried in the hot salt and turned occasionally with a spatula so the salt's retained heat cooks the food through direct contact rather than through oil. Regional versions include Pakistani street vendors cooking corn this way, Indian vendors cooking peanuts, chickpeas and popcorn in salt heated in iron woks, and cooks across the Indian subcontinent using heated salt or sand to make muri, or puffed rice, from parboiled rice.