The strips go into the oil pale and limp. Seconds later they come up puffed and barely golden, light enough to toss in a bowl like straw. Then the hot syrup goes over them in a thin stream, and the loose pile turns glossy and starts to cling to itself. Sachima (沙琪玛, shāqímǎ) is that pile pressed into a pan, cooled and cut into squares: fried egg-dough strips held together by sugar and maltose. Each piece is soft and airy with a light crunch, tastes of egg and clean sweetness, and pulls into fine sugar threads when you bite it, best with a pot of hot tea beside the plate.
A Manchu sweet that settled in Beijing
The name sounds unlike most Chinese words because it was borrowed from another language. Sachima is usually traced to the Manchus, and its name is read as a sound-for-sound rendering of the Manchu word sacima. The usual story places its start in the Qing dynasty as a sweet for offerings. After the Manchus came through the passes into China proper, it spread through Beijing, and it never left. Old pastry houses in the city, Daoxiangcun among them, still stack it on their counters.
The recipe has moved with time. Older versions are described as a mix of rock sugar, cream and flour, a richer and plainer thing than what is sold now. Today's Beijing sachima starts from a dough of flour, baking powder, egg and water. The dough is cut fine, fried, bound with a syrup that pulls into threads, often studded with raisins, pressed flat on an oiled plate, cooled and cut.
Hong Kong's ma zai
In Hong Kong the same sweet is also called ma zai (馬仔). The Hong Kong pastry-shop style leans richer, with butter and honey in the syrup, raisins and sesame through the block, a square pan and frying at around 285°F (140°C). It is a different mix from the one here, with different proportions all the way through, and the two do not combine well halfway. This recipe keeps to the plain line: egg dough, sugar and maltose, nothing scattered through it, so the egg flavor and the fine tangle of strips carry the whole piece.
Wheat dough runs through the whole of Chinese cooking, and sachima sits at its sweet, fried end. Noodles fried until crisp in chow mein and the thin, pliable wrappers of xiaolongbao come from the same habit of rolling and cutting flour dough by hand. Here the dough gets eggs instead of water and ends in syrup instead of broth.
On the mainland the characters are 沙琪玛 (shāqímǎ); in Hong Kong it is written 沙琪瑪, and Hong Kong shops also sell it as 馬仔, ma zai. The characters were picked for their sound. Why the Hong Kong nickname uses the character for horse is not settled.
Ingredients
Sachima contains wheat and egg. There is no dairy or nuts in this version; check the labels of maltose and baking powder if you cook for someone with allergies.
Equipment
- Rectangular pan, 8¾ × 6¾ × 1¾ inches (22 × 17 × 4.5 cm)
- Parchment paper to line the pan
- Deep pot or wok for frying
- Candy or digital cooking thermometer
- Spider strainer
- Small saucepan for the syrup
- Rolling pin and a large knife
- Large mixing bowl and a sturdy spatula
Choosing maltose, flour and starch
Maltose is the one thing to hunt down. It sits in jars at Chinese grocers and online, sometimes labeled malt sugar or malt syrup. It gives the syrup its gloss, its chew and a stickiness that holds the strips together as the block cools. Other starch syrups may differ in thickness and sweetness, so maltose is worth the trip.
Everything else comes from an ordinary supermarket. All-purpose or bread flour both work. Plain white sugar goes into the syrup. Use cornstarch for dusting: do not assume another starch behaves the same way. Cornstarch keeps the cut strips loose. Any neutral oil works for frying.
To keep sachima tasting the way it does in a Beijing shop, hold on to three things: an egg dough with no added water, maltose in the syrup, and a syrup taken to temperature with a thermometer. Raisins and sesame are optional; leave them out and the block is cleaner and more eggy.
Method
The dough needs a rest, and that is your hands-off time. While it sits, line the pan with parchment, pour the oil into the pot, and weigh the syrup ingredients into the saucepan so they are ready. After that the work runs straight through: roll, cut, fry in small batches into one big bowl, cook the syrup, coat, press. The block then cools on its own before you cut it.
When it goes wrong
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The block is hard and brittle, like candy | The syrup went too hot; past about 390°F (200°C) it turns into hard, brittle candy | Read the thermometer off the heat and stop at about 240°F (115°C) |
| The block stays sticky and will not set | The syrup did not get hot enough | Cook the next batch fully to temperature before pouring |
| The test strip sinks and stays down | The oil is not hot enough yet | Wait and test again until a strip floats within 3 seconds |
| Strips come out dark or hard | Fried too long, or the oil ran too hot | Keep each batch to 12 to 15 seconds and lift it while still pale |
| The strips clump in the oil | Not enough cornstarch, or the strips were damp | Toss them with more cornstarch and fry them as loose handfuls |
| The squares crumble when cut | The block was still warm, or the strips got too little syrup | Let it cool completely; coat every strand thinly next time |
Serving, variations and storage
Sachima belongs with hot tea, a few squares on a small plate in the afternoon or set out when someone visits. The tea cuts the sweetness and softens the egg-rich crumb. It is high in fat and calories, so enjoy it in moderation.
Variations
- Raisins: fold a handful into the strips with the syrup. They add bursts of fruit and a chewier bite.
- Sesame: scatter sesame through the strips before pressing. It adds a toasted, nutty note and some crunch.
- Hong Kong ma zai: the butter-and-honey style is its own mix, with its own proportions and frying temperature. Make it as a separate batch rather than adding butter or honey to this syrup.
- Smaller pieces: cut the block into smaller squares or bars for a tea tray. The pieces are easier to share and the cut faces show more of the strands.
Storage
Keep sachima in a sealed bag at room temperature, for up to 1 week. Air makes the surface sticky, so close the bag tightly after every piece you take out.
Frequently asked questions
Baking soda or baking powder?
Baking powder. It is what puffs the strips in the few seconds they spend in the oil and keeps them light. Use the ½ tsp in the dough and nothing else.
What temperature should the frying oil be?
Go by the float test instead of a number. When a single strip comes up within 3 seconds, the oil is right for this dough. The richer Hong Kong style fries its strips at around 285°F (140°C), but that dough is a different mix.
Can I judge the syrup without a thermometer?
The syrup changes fast and the color tells you little in the range that matters. Watching it pull threads off a spoon gives a rough idea, but the thermometer is what keeps the block from turning brittle or staying sticky. Buy one before you make this.
My dough will not come together. Can I add water?
The dough uses only the eggs for liquid, and it starts out shaggy. Keep kneading until it turns smooth; this recipe does not add water.
