Youtiao 油条 aka. Chinese Donut Sticks

AuthorYun Zhang JohnCategory, DifficultyIntermediateRating
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Yields7 Servings
Prep Time10 hrsCook Time10 minsTotal Time10 hrs 10 mins

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.

You Will Need

 250 g All purpose flour
 5 g Baking powder1/2 tbsp
 1 g Baking soda1/4 tsp
 4 g Salt1/2 tsp
 15 g Oil1 tbsp
 150 g Water
 Neutral tasting oil for frying

Instructions

Night before
1

Combine all the ingredients and knead to form a dough. Leave the sticky bumpy dough to rest for 10min covered and then knead it smooth. Slightly flatten the dough.

2

Add 1 tbsp or so of oil to a flat bottom dish and then smear the dough in the oil so that every surface inch is covered. Cover the dish and leave the dough to rest in the fridge overnight.

The morning of
3

Take out the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature for about 1hour. Then roll it out into a long rectangle.

4

Divide the rectangle into strips. Two strips for each youtiao. This can make 7-8 youtiaos.

5

To shape, get a chop stick and dab some water on one end, draw a line with the water down the middle of a dough strip. This acts as a glue for the other strip as you lay it on top of the 1st one. Then press the chop stick down the middle of the dough to connect the 2 strips.

To fry
6

Bring a pot of oil up to temperature of 190C / 375F using a thermometer.

7

Stretch out the dough as you drop them in, with the centre part first. Once the dough is submerged in the oil, you’ll need to get a pair of long chopsticks or tangs and continuously turn the youtiao in the oil. This motion that helps the strips to puff up and grow.

8

When you see that it has stopped growing. you can leave it to fry untouched for a few seconds on each side. In the mean time, you can start frying another one.

9

When you have a golden, puffed up youtiao, take it out and place on some paper towels to drain out the excess oil.

Ingredients

 250 g All purpose flour
 5 g Baking powder1/2 tbsp
 1 g Baking soda1/4 tsp
 4 g Salt1/2 tsp
 15 g Oil1 tbsp
 150 g Water
 Neutral tasting oil for frying

Directions

Night before
1

Combine all the ingredients and knead to form a dough. Leave the sticky bumpy dough to rest for 10min covered and then knead it smooth. Slightly flatten the dough.

2

Add 1 tbsp or so of oil to a flat bottom dish and then smear the dough in the oil so that every surface inch is covered. Cover the dish and leave the dough to rest in the fridge overnight.

The morning of
3

Take out the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature for about 1hour. Then roll it out into a long rectangle.

4

Divide the rectangle into strips. Two strips for each youtiao. This can make 7-8 youtiaos.

5

To shape, get a chop stick and dab some water on one end, draw a line with the water down the middle of a dough strip. This acts as a glue for the other strip as you lay it on top of the 1st one. Then press the chop stick down the middle of the dough to connect the 2 strips.

To fry
6

Bring a pot of oil up to temperature of 190C / 375F using a thermometer.

7

Stretch out the dough as you drop them in, with the centre part first. Once the dough is submerged in the oil, you’ll need to get a pair of long chopsticks or tangs and continuously turn the youtiao in the oil. This motion that helps the strips to puff up and grow.

8

When you see that it has stopped growing. you can leave it to fry untouched for a few seconds on each side. In the mean time, you can start frying another one.

9

When you have a golden, puffed up youtiao, take it out and place on some paper towels to drain out the excess oil.

Youtiao 油条 aka. Chinese Donut Sticks

2 thoughts on “Youtiao 油条 aka. Chinese Donut Sticks”

  1. I tried making this and 150 g of water is way too much…it made the dough like cake mix. Are you sure the 150g was not a typo?? I ended up needing to add 30-40% more dry ingredients to make the dough look like yours.

    Reply

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