A chef demonstrates how to create guifaxiang mahua (fried dough twists) at the Chopsticks & Beyond Tianjin Snack Attack event.[Photo/Crienglish.com]

The chefs had barely finished showing what to do before host Lucy Luan (from EZ Cafe) yelled Go, setting off the 45 minute timer. Luan reiterated again and again the Chopsticks & Beyond theme that calls on chefs not to just duplicate Chinese food, but to be creative in their interpretation of the dishes. However, some contestants claimed to ignorance about this aspect of the competition. "I found that out about like 20 minutes ago!" grumbled American Austin Guidry. "Yeah, I didn't prepare anything," moaned Canadian Alex Custeau. "It's my fault." In contrast, Cat Nelson from Time Out Beijing came well-prepped with her own African piri piri spice mix, smoked Vietnamese chili powder and ginger bread spice.

The contestants busied themselves rolling the dough and stuffing the baozi, which wasn't as difficult as some had imagined. The mahua, however, turned out to be far from simple, despite the ease with which master chef Liu spun it out. The dough has to be rolled into a thin strand, before being doubled up, twisted, and rolled out again several times over.