Youtiao 油条 aka. Chinese Donut Sticks

When I was little, I hated eating breakfasts. So much so that I’d secretly throw it away piece by piece as my mom took me to school on the back of her bicycle. But then every once in awhile, there would be Youtiao 油条 and soy milk 豆漿 on the table. That, I loved.

The grown ups would wake up early to buy freshly fried youtiaos 油条 and bags of warm soy milk from the street vendors who fries them on the spot. Everyone’s got their favourite vendor and everyone gets there early!

A fresh youtiao is deep fried dough stick that you can either eat as is or dip into warm liquids so that the airy interiors can soak it all up. A tried, tested and beloved breakfast meal that also happens to be completely vegan.

A bit of back story

A good youtiao aka. Chinese donut sticks aka. Chinese crullers, should be airy in texture with a crispy exterior and a pleasant chewiness on the inside. Very often, they are sold by street vendors in wet markets or little mom and pop shops at breakfast time across the country.

Some, like me eat it with soy milk, some with congee or rice porridge and some will use it as part of a filling for other breakfast wraps. In fact, it is also popular across different Asian countries.

Now, the average home cook does not make youtiaos at home because it can be time consuming and finicky to deep fry foods first thing in the morning. However, unless you’re living in a country where these are made to order, you likely won’t find a good tasting youtiao in the stores. They are amazing as soon as they are fried so if you want the best result, make them yourself! Luckily the traditional recipe is very simple and easy to do at home.

Eggs and milk?

There are recipes that adds milk and egg, but not this one. I feel that those do not add extra value to this humble food. Follow the right techniques, and this recipe will yield airy, crispy and chewy youtiaos just like the ones on the streets.

The Timeline

My recommendation for making youtiao is to start the night before. The dough needs to rest over night in the fridge to -

A. relax and thus make it easier to roll out and stretch.
B. develop an airy texture that produces open pockets of air on the inside.

However, you can get good results on the same day, provided that you let it rest at room temperature for at least 3 hours. The dough will still puff up nicely but you might lack some airiness on the inside.

Tips for frying the youtiao

- The optimal temperature for frying is 190C / 375F. Although I’ve seen recipes that calls for as high as 200C /410F. So I think somewhere in between is the sweet spot. Which is why having a thermometer is very useful for deep frying foods.

- Choose a pot or pan with a wide opening to accommodate the expanding youtiao as it fries. You'll need just a couple of inches of a neutral tasting oil that can withstand high temperatures.

- As soon as you drop in the dough, continuously rotate it in the oil. This motion helps the dough to puff up and expand. Once it stops expanding, you can leave it to fry stationary on one side for a few seconds to get extra crispiness before doing the same on the flip side.

- Take it out to drain as soon as you have a golden youtiao. Over frying will not yield that chewiness we want on the inside.