Street Food in China - Chestnuts, Popcorn, Candy

Food preparation is also a production process. Time, temperature, pressure, and motion are critical inputs. There are specialized tools, machines, processes needed to manage the inputs.

I recently visited China and was amazed at the variety of street food available and the ingenuity of the cooking methods

I highlight a few classic staples requiring what I consider "industrial" methods, as opposed to simple stove of oven cooking.

Popcorn:
Chinese people love popcorn too.

Check out the Mythbuster guys trying out the same pressure cooker.  The safety equipment is turned to 11.

Puffed Rice:
Also cooked with the same pressure cooker.  This guy has a slightly different capturing device.

Chestnuts:
A staple in cold weather.  Chestnuts are sometimes cooked in a media of small stone pebbles.  I think the pebbles might be basalt. The pebbles help transfer the heat evenly to the chestnut.

Blown Candy:
My wife says this doesn't taste so good, but is pretty. In this video I think the guy makes a dragon.

Some other things that you can see made on the street are sweet potatoes, peanuts, pancake type dishes, dumplings. Yum.  Man, I need to go get a snack.