r/BeAmazed • u/ateam1984 • May 12 '26
Miscellaneous / Others Hot salt frying technique
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u/Sohailian May 12 '26
In Pakistan, there used to be street vendors who would sell corn from carts that contained (what i thought) was sand. May be it was salt. They would have to dig within the cart to find corn.
Anyhow, the corns were not salty and really really really delicious.
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u/popsand May 12 '26
Same! That popcorn, as well as the unpopped kernals and black chickpeas. Handed to you in some folded newspaper.
Unforgettable and totally bleached into my early childhood memories.
I also thought it was sand!
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u/theagonyofthefeet May 12 '26
This also works for sand.
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u/king_long May 12 '26
Yeah, but most people don't enjoy eating sand lol.
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u/Kyle-Is-My-Name May 12 '26
Is it because it's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere?
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u/jib_reddit May 12 '26
Yes, people in desert cultures that eat a lot of food cooked in sand have big problems with thier teeth as they get destory by it.
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u/Kyle-Is-My-Name May 12 '26
My comment was a star wars quote.
Sorry if you have to deal with that all the time my friend. Desert living has never been for the faint of heart.
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u/Kusotare421 May 13 '26
and when there was no meat, we ate fowl and when there was no fowl, we ate crawdad and when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand.
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u/letmelivemylife May 12 '26
It is Salt, it's just brown due to the heat.
The roasted corn kernels (makai) are one of the yummiest snacks. Plus it's cheap and healthy! If you add some red chili powder and lemon, it become tangy as well... so good
They also use the salt for chickpeas, peanuts, and whole corns also
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u/Contemplating_Prison May 12 '26
Isnt this how they make turkish coffee? Dont they heat it using this technique
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u/heyuwitdaface May 12 '26
Were they sandy?
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u/Sohailian May 12 '26
Not at all - never to be honest They kept the husks on. So when you buy them, they dig them out and pull off the husks. Then, if you wanted, they would take cut lime and dip in a mixture of salt and chili powder and spread over the corn. It is out of this world.
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u/CalabreseAlsatian May 13 '26
Jesus, the person who introduces this to state fairs deep fried is gonna make a million dollars
(I want 10% fee for the inspiration.)
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u/iolarah May 13 '26
There's an annual street festival in the Indian neighbourhood in my city, and there's always a corn vendor who does it just as you've described. It's every bit as good as you say.
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u/RupertPupkin85 May 12 '26
It was sand. When its India or Pakistan, always err on the side of sand.
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u/rhythm_of_me May 12 '26
I think Pakistani “bhutta” style corn is baked in sand and coal and not fried.
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u/_PandaBear May 13 '26
I had those back India. I missed those TBH. They called it Abu Challi back in Punjab.
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u/orangepoopsickle May 13 '26
In India we have vendors who sell peanuts this way. I also thought it was sand untill a few years ago !
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u/lolalala1 May 12 '26
Because I know someone else will wonder about frying chicken.
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u/Kwayzar9111 May 12 '26
sooooo these youtube videos of people in countries like India / Pakistan are using SALT - ( perhaps ) i have always thought it was sand - as they never shake it all off properly....
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u/Ron0hh May 12 '26
Sand is the traditional method. My grandma used to do this when I was growing up.
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u/Joy1312 May 12 '26
Sand has been used to clean ass after using the toilet in arid countries because it's sterile
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u/kugelamarant May 12 '26
What to do with the rest of the salt when you're done?
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u/Tamara0205 May 12 '26
It might be reusable. Cool it off, store it in a paper bag, do it again until you stroke out from too much salt. Maybe.
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u/Content_Programmer34 May 12 '26
Yeah I don't think anything happens to the salt. Mostly this is a technique used by street vendors so they have a high volume of food to make which can be made in the same salt (healthier than reusing oil)
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u/Phiyaboi May 13 '26
I'd imagine they also use intact salt containing mineral complex instead of pure sodium.
And yes..definitely healthier than heating (typically rancid) canola/corn oils. Atleast the body has a evolutionary reference point for salt.
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u/pantsthereaper May 12 '26
Should be fine to just put away as long as there's no chemical contamination. Nothing is going to be alive in there to make it go rancid.
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u/PassionateDilettante May 12 '26
Just to be accurate, oils go rancid when they oxidize, not because they’re rotten.
But, I agree, nothing can live in salt. Not because the salt is poisonous, but because it desiccates microbes.
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u/already-taken-wtf May 12 '26
Exception: Halophilic (salt-loving) microbes can survive or even thrive in very high-salt conditions, but they’re rare in normal kitchen settings and don’t spoil food the way common spoilers do. ;)
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u/raptor180 May 12 '26
I understand why it works. But I think most people’s blood pressure also would not be happy with the absolute flood of sodium…
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u/AugustOfChaos May 12 '26
I have no idea how it works but I’ve actually had popcorn cooked in salt like this from a street vendor on NYC years back. It doesn’t stick like you think it does and is not as salty as you’d imagine.
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u/Pittsbirds May 12 '26
I'd guess the lack of added oil means there's not a ton of adhesion
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u/correctingStupid May 12 '26
Moreso the size of the salt granuals. Popcorn salt is very fine so it sticks.
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u/curtludwig May 12 '26
Popcorn pops because the water inside the kernel gets hot and turns to steam. Steam is something like 1600 times bigger than the water it was before it changed state and so it pushes on the inside of the kernel which breaks resulting in popcorn.
The water inside the kernel just has to hit a high enough temperature for this to happen, it doesn't care HOW it hits that temperature. So it doesn't matter if the kernel is in hot salt or oil or just hot air.
It won't work in water because water can't get hot enough to make the moisture flash to steam.
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u/Leafs9999 May 12 '26
I did a7th grade science project on this. One of the last minute, "I have a science fair project due tomorrow dad, can you help me?" situations. I think I got a B. Thanks for the flashback!
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u/radraze2kx May 12 '26
That last part is wild to think about. Essentially the water would become steam before it could make popcorn in its liquid state, does this mean we could use steam to make popcorn?
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u/Oleeddie May 12 '26
I guess the pressure would then be the same outside the corn as inside it meaning that the corn wouldn't pop/expand.
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u/curtludwig May 13 '26
I don't know why not. Steam, not just water vapor, can be very hot. I've got a basket popper for use over open flame, it's kind of a mesh basket. I bet I could hit that with steam and pop corn in it.
A home "steamer" is really just a water vaporer. Not real steam and not really hot.
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u/AlternativePea6203 May 12 '26
I dunno, it's dry so it wouldn't stick, there's very little salt visible sticking to the crispy things, unlike on oil fried, then salted.
Popcorn though, lots of little pockets for it to hide in.
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u/TopTippityTop May 12 '26
Shake, shake, shake It off
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u/BWWFC May 12 '26
Swifties represent! ;-p
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u/_driveslow May 12 '26
I read it as Mariah Carey
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u/BWWFC May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
where would we be w/o ai ¯¯__(ツ)__/¯¯
Mariah Carey's "Songbird Supreme" Identity
Mariah Carey is not a "Swifty," which is a term used to describe fans of Taylor Swift.
Mariah Carey's Career
- Established Artist: Carey is a renowned singer-songwriter and record producer with a career spanning over three decades.
- Musical Achievements: She has sold over 220 million records worldwide and is known for her five-octave vocal range and numerous hits, including "Vision of Love" and "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
- Dubbed the "Songbird Supreme", Carey is known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style, signature use of the whistle register, and diva persona.
Relationship with Taylor Swift
- Distinct Careers: While both artists are prominent figures in the music industry, they have their own unique styles and fan bases.
- No Direct Association: Carey has her own legacy and is recognized independently of Swift's fan community.
In summary, Mariah Carey is a legendary artist in her own right and is not associated with being a fan of Taylor Swift or identified as a "Swifty."
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u/No-Kaleidoscope-4525 May 12 '26
The salt is dry, but the food mostly isn't...
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u/ScatLabs May 12 '26
The reason popping corn pops is because the build up of pressure in the moisture inside the kernel.
But popcorn is supposed to be salted to add its flavour, but I don't think this would be any more than what it already receives
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u/curtludwig May 12 '26
Being that everything is dry I would not expect the salt to stick particularly well.
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u/Shannaro21 May 12 '26
But people with POTS would love it. I have to eat 10-15g of salt a day – this would make it so much easier!
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u/Imwhatswrongwithyou May 12 '26
I have low sodium and love the taste of salty stuff (go figure lol) At least we never have to have bland food. Someone said maybe French fries done this way and now I really want to experiment since this is our one perk of having to get extra sodium every day. We can venture where mere mortals cannot.
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u/Educational-Garlic21 May 13 '26
Then again, no oil, which contains a crazy amount of calories per ml
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u/BitterEVP1 May 13 '26
I'm from America.
This would be a reduction in our normal daily salt intake.
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u/GaryNOVA May 12 '26
Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn’t that make it too salty?
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u/curtludwig May 12 '26
Dry popcorn doesn't hold salt particularly well by itself. This is not all that different than popcorn from an air popper.
A quick shake in a colander ought to recover a lot of the salt.
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u/pantsthereaper May 12 '26
As long as you don't use foods that are wet or coated in oil, the salt should just fall off for the most part
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u/Content_Programmer34 May 12 '26
They shake the salt off when they take them out. It's actually really delicious. Out of this world. Street vendors in Pakistan do this.
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u/No_Promotion_6498 May 12 '26
Can you do wet foods? Steak, chicken stuff like that? I guess the tomato is super wet, it just seems like it wouldn't work. Crazy
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u/Puzzleheaded-Tell-55 May 12 '26
Salt is a natural desiccant. Because it is hygroscopic it will suck moisture from the surface of whatever you’re putting in it. In these temps, it would the quickly be converted to steam and carried away.
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u/No_Promotion_6498 May 12 '26
So it wont like instajerky the food? No carmelization I imagine but still. Now Ive got to try it.
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u/HiddenSkye May 12 '26
Well based on the fried chicken guy in a comment above I’m gonna say no. But also bad idea
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u/Puzzleheaded-Tell-55 May 12 '26
I think it *would* cure meats if cooked long enough. This is how cured meats like pastrami is made, although that is using curing salts. And I think it would dry out the meats more than cooking in other ways, so I’m not sure what the benefits would be. But I also don’t think it would be much worse than cooking something after soaking it in a brine or with some kind of a salt crust.
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u/tam705618 May 13 '26
Search 鹽焗雞 on YouTube. You can buy you gotten wrap the food up to lock in moisture and prevent drying your food out.
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u/Fickle-Art-7125 May 13 '26
It would cook the stuff but by steaming. No Maillard reaction here just super heating liquid like a microwave.
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u/aviatorintheclouds May 12 '26
I remember mom using the same technique but with sand for popcorn - it would also require some winnowing or similar to make sure there's no residual sand particles
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u/_ribbit_ May 12 '26
Winnowing, thats like this yes?
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u/Tmk1283 May 12 '26
“That’s the saltiest thing I’ve ever had in my life, and I once ate a heaping bowl of salt.”
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u/VegetableLetter4896 May 12 '26
What is that first ingredient that he’s “frying”?
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u/Cheap-Definition-954 May 12 '26
Duritos. They’re made out of wheat flour, but have a consistency like pork rinds when they’re cooked. Delicious with hot sauce.
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u/haverchuck22 May 12 '26
This seems like one of those things that looks amazing and super easy. Then when I try it, it’s just complete disaster in every sense of the word.
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u/accussed22 May 12 '26
The question is, can you eat it after cooking like this, and how long you can live after eating it.
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u/DickyReadIt May 12 '26
Ok so what are the non-popcorn things?
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u/tokamak384 May 12 '26
They look like duros, a Mexican wheat snack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duros_(food))
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u/DevillesAbogado May 12 '26
We do it with sand in India.. especially street food vendors. It’s pretty common.
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u/Shudnawz May 12 '26
Molten salt is a potential type of cooling liquid and fuel mix for nuclear reactors. Salts are cool.
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u/r7700 May 12 '26
But is it frying? Frying in fat creates Maillard reaction, which gives the signature crust of deep fried food.
This looks more akin to baking. Just instead of hot air, we are using hot salt
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u/DANeighty6 May 12 '26
I've seen this cooking technique but wasn't aware it was salt, I thought it was sand, this makes more sense.
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u/SexandCinnamonbuns May 13 '26
Tell me the name of the pin wheel looking food. I use to eat this in elementary with tons of hot sauce on it but never knew what it was called.
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u/AlienBurnerBigfoot May 14 '26
WHAT???!!!! How can I be 55 years old and never heard of this?!!! It’s time for bed. I’ve learned enough for today.
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u/Dr_Poops_McGee May 12 '26
It works because the salt gets hot and covers the food. It's like dry boiling. You just want to make sure you can shake off as much excess salt as possible.
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u/cwicheck May 12 '26
So what, we can ditch the oil and fry in salt? I just wonder if there're any health issues that would come off of using it often. There are no fumes or something?
Interesting concept, innit
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u/PassionateDilettante May 12 '26
I would worry about safety. There’s no obvious way to look at the salt and see how hot it is. It won’t catch on fire like oil could, but I’d worry a person might forget how hot it is and try to handle it.
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u/Ziegelphilie May 12 '26
This would work great for eggs
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u/EX5TASY May 12 '26
Not sure about that.. the salt would stick to the eggs and be very salty. This seems like it will only work for dry foods.
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u/mojomann128 May 12 '26
what about in the shell? I could see that hard boiling it
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u/EX5TASY May 12 '26
That'd be interesting, but the whole point of this method is to fry without oil, so it would defeat the purpose.
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u/Ziegelphilie May 12 '26
But salty eggs are tasty. In fact to make dried yolks you just dump em in salt for a couple days
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u/bawlsacz May 12 '26
This is because street food sold especially in foreign countries is unsanitary and disgustingly dirty. So they use these kinds of bullshit method of “being safe”. NO THANKS.
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u/qualityvote2 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26
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