Chinese Doughnut Sticks

When I was younger, one of the main reasons I loved having congee was being able to dunk these airy, savory fried doughnut sticks into it. Legend says that during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), Qin Gui, a corrupt official influenced by his wife, executed a revered general named Yue Fei. As a sign of protest, a cook made a pair of these breadsticks, shaped to represent the leader and his wife, and symbolically deep-fried them in hot oil. As macabre as the symbolism is, it is familiarly call