麻花是传统的中华面点，属于油炸食品，因外形呈铰链形，故又被人戏称为“铰链棒”。麻花有甜、咸两味之分，亦根据个头有大麻花与小麻花之分。它的制作原料是面粉、糯米、鸡蛋、白糖、植物油，考究的做法还会加上核桃油、花生油、冰糖等等。好的麻花颜色呈金黄或深黄。无论大小，其中段(除两端)都要在四绞以上，绞得越多，越见得师傅的功夫。入口则香脆可口，满口生津。

　　As a kind of traditional pastry in China, it falls into the category of fried food. It is nicknamed as "The hinge-shaped stick" for its appearance in the form of a hinge. There are big and small fried dough twists respec－tively featured by sweet and salty flavors. They are made of flour, glutinous rice, eggs, white sugar and plant-oil. Those prepared in a particular way would be added with walnut-oil, peanut-oil and crystal sugar, etc. High-quality ones look golden or dark-yellow. Despite the size, the middle-section would be twisted more than four times. The more the twists are, the more skilled the cook is, as it tastes delicious, crisp and savory. 曹建新 译

　　The fried dough twist