hungryghosts | "Deep fried ghost"

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It's a Chinese street food!

...Okay, so the "actual" name translates to something like "oil sticks," but that is an actual nickname.

The food itself is pretty simple: two strips of generously oiled dough, twisted together and deep-fried. They're airy, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and delicious with some nice soy milk. (Or so we hear. We were never much for soy milk.) The stories say it was invented as part of a popular protest. A popular general was put to death because of a corrupt official and his wife, and the populace were so pissed that they fried and ate them in doughy effigy.

Please appreciate in particular:

"In the vendors’ defense, two men stepped up and scooped the fried dough out of the oil to eat it. They exclaimed how delicious and crispy it was, which further infuriated [the corrupt official]."

It's nice to see that "eat the rich" has a long and storied history!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lb_lee

That is an amazing story that makes me so happy to hear. Thank you.

--Mori

From:

hungryghosts

I'M ALWAYS DELIGHTED TO SHARE WEIRD CULTURAL SHIT. I think Japan tends to get painted as The Weird Asians and China tends to get painted as super authoritarian and no-fun (which unfortunately does have some basis in truth), but nah, China's had its own weird shenanigans over its long, long history.

From:

lb_lee

All cultures are weird. I am positive anyone not familiar with Groundhog Day would think it's the stupidest, weirdest shit ever.

Also this verifies my belief that revenge is best served creatively. You just KNOW that guy would've been rotating in his grave fast enough to power all of Beijing knowing people were feasting on his effigies. A suiting end!

--Mori

EDIT from Rogan: THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE! There were two of them! Stupid history for the win!

Edited Date: 2019-12-31 07:57 pm (UTC)

From:

hungryghosts

Oh even better! It turns out that "deep fried ghost" isn't just a nickname, it's also the Cantonese name for these things! (It can also be translated to "oil-fried devil," but "deep-fried ghost" just sounds a lot more hilarious and WTF.)

Also, I just looked up the Defenestrations of Prague, and I need to share this Wikipedia line with you:

Often, however, the 1483 event does not count as a "significant defenestration"

Ouch.

From:

lb_lee

Hahaha, "breaded shitdick"

"Fried asshole"

"Sleaze in greaze, dreaded and breaded"

And man, what's an INSIGNIFICANT defenestration?!

--Mori

From:

lb_lee

ALSO OMFG IS THIS POST WHY YOU CHANGED Y'ALL'S NAME TO HUNGRYGHOSTS???

BECAUSE IF SO THAT IS AWESOME A+ CHOICE

--Mori

From:

hungryghosts

LMAO. HOLY CRAP, I WISH. Now I'm sad that our alt name for places where "Hungry Ghosts" is taken isn't "deepfriedghosts." Ah well, never too late?

But yeah, the "hungry ghost" is a concept that exists in a handful of Asian traditions - Buddhism, Taoism, and some folk traditions if we remember correctly. (Pretty morbid shit and some mention of familial abuse ahead, heads up.)

The exact interpretation varies, but generally it's about a spirit who is consumed by a terrible, animalistic hunger, but is unable to eat. In some cases, someone becomes a hungry ghost as a punishment for greed or stinginess in life, and in some cases they become one due to neglect by the living. The phrase can also refer to regular ghosts who cause mischief in the world of the living until appeased. (The Hungry Ghost Festival revolves around this.)

The interpretation that most inspired our system name comes from the "neglected by the living" side of things. There's a story we read as a kid, about a girl who was locked up and left to starve by her abusive mother. When she died, she came back as a hungry ghost. She presumably had her revenge at some point, but that wasn't the part of the story that stuck with us.

Anyway, that was a pretty big "wow, relatable!" But also, the Hungry Ghost Festival. It's like Asian Halloween if Halloween involved SETTING SHIT ON FIRE. FOR GHOSTS.

LOOK AT THIS.

(Also, I am going to put this on public if that is okay with y'all? I actually don't know why we put this on access in the first place...)

Edited Date: 2020-02-21 05:35 am (UTC)

From:

lb_lee

Sure, public is fine! And holy shit wow, burning in effigy for ghosts! That's great! (And way more elaborate than I imagined, is that a car made of papier-mache? I was just imagining a giant barbecue of food!)

Part of me wonders what would happen if you fed hungry ghosts deep-fried ghost, but that seems like a mean thing to do.

Mori/Sneak