Forget about steamed buns and smelly tofu, and meet the hot new Chinese snack -- latiao! The spicy sticks that are enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame on the global palate.The cheap "delicacy" is made from gluten, the stuff that makes bread dough chewy. The stick of protein is spicy and is commonly sold at roadside stands.
The latiao fervor came one month after it caught the attention of a British film crew, and in February, the BBC aired a three-part documentary on Chinese New Year celebrations in which the two presenters were seen roaming a typical Chinese snack street, latiao in hand.
"Latiao is the most popular snack for under-25s in China," one of them said, which seems a little far-fetched, to say the least.
Of the top ten "Chinese snacks" on eBay, four items are latiao in different packagings, with prices ranging from 10.33 dollars to 25 dollars. Searching "Chinese snacks" on amazon.com, latiao is the first item to pop up, with each packet priced at 12.99 dollars.In China, the latiao industry generates an estimated value of 20 billion yuan, with 10 companies each producing latiao worth over 100 million yuan a year. Production has expanded in recent years.Min Quanlu, production manager of WL-Foods, a major latiao maker, said that the company used to package the snack by hand. until five years ago, when demand exploded. Now everything is automated."We make 600 million yuan’s worth of latiao each year and employ about 2,000 workers," Min said. "About 20 percent of our products are sold in the domestic market, and the rest goes overseas."
As a kind of common food,Spicy slips are famous around our world ,especially in China.Spicy slips are mostly made of flour ,belonging to flour products.They have a special flavour,which can tightly catch our visual and taste.Sometimes,when you smell the taste of spicy slips,you will be brought the water to your mouth.If you have the chance,have a taste please,and you will love them.however,spicy slips are not a healthy food.So you should control yourself to eat them.
