'Cooking competition' goes viral during virus outbreak

Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, people have started making food they would normally have in restaurants or buy at stores.

From making liangpi, a noodle-like Chinese dish made from wheat or rice flour, to baking a cake with a rice steamer, different recipes and tips have gone viral on the internet, with some parts of the worldwide web turning into cooking and baking forums.

Amid the outbreak, residential communities closed their gates to reduce person-to-person contact, and residents can only collect takeaways and deliveries at the community entrance.

Going out once will cost one mask, a pair of disposable gloves, and the risk of eating food made by others. It seems much safer and more cost-effective to cook at home.

This "cooking competition" on the internet has led to many interesting phenomena.

All kinds of homemade mixers

Cake-making is not a traditional thing for most Chinese families, thus mixers and ovens are not musts in every household.

Since "rice steamer cake" went viral, beating up stiff egg whites has become a challenge for many.

Netizens have come up with all kinds of ideas, including cutting the bottom of a plastic bottle to strips, and attaching that to a drill or attaching a spoon to it for a makeshift egg beater.

Mask aside, yeast is in short supply

It seems like during the break, people who stay at home, no matter men or women, old or young, have become "pastry masters."

From fried dough sticks to cakes and buns, yeast is needed. Since yeast is not a common ingredient in traditional Chinese food, many families do not have enough yeast in stock.

According to a report on CBNweekly, many supermarkets said yeast have been sold out within half a day of hitting the shelves.

Pizza made of steamed bun recently became a trending topic on Weibo.

It involves breaking steamed buns into smaller pieces, frying them, drizzling it with an egg mixture, laying it in a frying pan to form a pie shape, and then sprinkling it with ham and other toppings to make a simple Chinese-style pizza.

Over 290 million people have watched the original video on Weibo.

Although this dish is not pizza in the traditional sense, many netizens can't wait to try it since all that needed is a pan and some common ingredients.

(CGTN)