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Sekai Gohan
You Tiao: Chinese Twin Fried Dough Sticks for Breakfast
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Cake flour (薄力粉) | 1¾ oz (50 g) | Keeps the crumb tender |
| Bread flour (强力粉) | 1¾ oz (50 g) | Gives the dough its structure |
| Baking powder, aluminum-free (泡打粉) | 1.5 g | Main leavening |
| Baking soda (小苏打) | 1 g | Supporting lift and browning |
| Salt | 1 g | Seasons the dough; this is all the salt |
| Warm water, 104°F (40°C) | ¼ cup + 2 tsp (70 ml) | Brings the dough together |
| Cake flour and bread flour mixed 1:1, for dusting | As needed | Keeps dough off the board and pin |
| Neutral vegetable oil, for frying | As needed | Frying |
Steps
1Sift and mix the dry ingredients
Sift the cake flour, bread flour and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk them together thoroughly before any water goes near them. This is the moment to spread the leavening evenly through the flour. The mix is ready when it looks uniformly white with no specks of baking powder.
2Dissolve the soda and salt in warm water
Pour the 104°F (40°C) water into a second bowl. Add the baking soda and salt and whisk until they disappear. Run the whisk along the bottom and listen. The water is ready when there is no grit left to scrape.
3Add the flour in two or three additions
Tip about a third of the flour into the water and stir with the rubber spatula. Add the rest in two more additions, stirring each one in before the next. Press out any lumps against the side of the bowl. Stop when no dry flour remains and the dough has come together in one shaggy mass.
4Knead for 10 minutes
Dust the board lightly and turn out the dough. Hold one end with one hand and push the dough away across the board with the heel of the other, then roll it back and repeat for 10 minutes. On a hot day, knead in the bowl instead. The dough is ready when it holds together and has stopped sticking to the board.
5Roll, fold in thirds and refrigerate
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 6 × 12 inches (15 × 30 cm), a little larger than that, since it springs back. Fold one third in toward the center, fold the other third over it, and line up the corners. Wrap it snugly in plastic wrap with no air trapped inside, set it in the container, cover and refrigerate 8 hours to overnight. It goes in as a neat rectangle with straight, even folds.
6Bring the dough to room temperature and roll it thin
In the morning, take the dough out and leave it on the counter until it loses its refrigerator chill. Dust the board, the rolling pin and the dough lightly with the 1:1 flour mix. Roll it out into a thin, even sheet. It is ready when it rolls without fighting back and the thickness looks the same corner to corner.
7Cut, stack and press the strips together
Cut the sheet into strips, as a guide about ¾–1¼ inches (2–3 cm) wide. Lay one strip on top of another. Press a chopstick firmly down the center along the full length, hard enough to bond the two layers. The pair is ready when the layers are fused and a clear groove runs down the middle.
8Heat the oil and lower in the first stick
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 340–355°F (170–180°C), clipping the thermometer to the side. Pick up one pair by both ends, pull it gently longer and give it a twist as you lay it into the oil. Fry one stick at a time. It sinks briefly, then rises with a fizz of bubbles all along its length.
9Roll it in the oil until golden and doubled
As soon as the stick floats, keep turning it with chopsticks so every side meets the oil. Watch the thermometer and adjust the heat to hold the range. Before the next stick goes in, let the oil come back up to temperature. The stick is done when it is evenly fox-brown and about twice its raw size.
10Drain and check the inside
Lift the stick onto the wire rack over the tray and let the oil drain off well. Fry the remaining pairs the same way. Break one open while warm. A good one shows large hollow pockets inside and a thin, crisp shell.