Chinese fried dough sticks (youtiao)
Youtiao are twin sticks of dough fried until puffed, with a crisp crust and a hollow, airy inside, often eaten for breakfast with pho or rice porridge, or dipped in soy milk. The secret lies in a soft dough rested for a long time and two strips pressed firmly together, which separate in the hot oil and swell up like a long pillow.
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rising or chilling
- 4 hr 30 min
- Total time
- 5 hr 20 min
- Method
- Fried
Ingredients
Dough
Frying oil and oil for greasing
Instructions
Step 1
Mix 300 g all-purpose flour, 6 g baking powder, 3 g baking soda, 5 g salt and 5 g granulated sugar in a bowl, then add 50 g egg, 20 g vegetable oil and 170 g water and stir with chopsticks into shaggy crumbs. Mixing the leaveners evenly into the dry flour first helps the sticks puff up evenly. This step is done when there is no dry flour left at the bottom of the bowl.
Step 2
Gather and knead the dough by hand for about three minutes until it comes together, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for twenty minutes. Youtiao dough is very soft and a little sticky, and resting lets it absorb the water so it is easier to knead without adding more flour. The dough is ready when it holds together in one mass, though the surface is still a little rough.
Step 3
Knead the dough again for about two minutes by folding it in half and pressing it down, repeating a few times. Gentle folding and pressing relaxes the gluten and makes the dough smoother rather than tight and tough. It is ready when the surface is smooth, as soft as an earlobe and no longer very sticky.
Step 4
Rub to taste vegetable oil all over the dough, put it in an airtight container or bag and leave it at room temperature for about four hours, or in the fridge overnight. The long rest relaxes the dough completely so it stretches without springing back. It is ready when it feels very soft when poked and has a few small air pockets inside.
Step 5
Place the dough on an oiled counter, gently pull and press it into a long sheet about 10 cm wide and about half a centimeter thick, then cut it into strips 2 cm wide. The oiled counter means you do not need any dusting flour, so the strips will stick firmly together later. The strips are ready when they are evenly thick with straight edges.
Step 6
Stack two strips on top of each other, press a chopstick firmly down the center so they stick together, then hold both ends and stretch gently into a stick about 20 cm long. The pressed line down the middle holds the two strands together so they puff apart to either side as they fry. The sticks are ready when the two layers are firmly joined in the middle and all are the same length.
Step 7
Heat to taste oil for deep-frying in a deep pan over high heat to about 200°C. The oil must be very hot so the moisture in the dough turns to steam quickly and pushes the sticks to puff up big. The oil is ready when a small piece of dough dropped in sinks and then rises within a second or two, bubbling vigorously.
Step 8
Lower the sticks into the pan one at a time, rolling them constantly with chopsticks for the first ten seconds so they puff evenly, then fry for about one to two minutes more. Constant rolling makes them swell round on every side instead of warping. They are done when they have puffed to three times their size, the crust is golden and crisp and they feel light and hollow; lift them out to drain on a rack.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Bench scraper
- Rolling pin
- Plastic wrap
- Deep skillet
- Thermometer
- Wire cooling rack
- Kitchen scale
Tips
- Resting the dough in the fridge overnight is very handy for breakfast; just take it out to come to room temperature for about an hour before cutting.
- Do not pull or knead hard while shaping, because tense dough shrinks back and the sticks cannot puff up.
- To keep them crisp longer, you can refry them in hot oil for about thirty seconds right before eating.
Storage
Youtiao are best while hot and crisp. Cooled sticks keep in a paper bag at room temperature for one day or in the freezer for up to two weeks; recrisp them in the oven or an air fryer at 180°C for about five minutes.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The sticks do not puff up and are hard and dense inside.
- The dough was not rested long enough or the oil was not hot enough. Rest the dough until it is very soft and wait for the oil to reach about 200°C before frying.
- The two strands separate while frying.
- The surface of the dough had dry dusting flour on it or the chopstick was not pressed hard enough. Use only oil on the counter and press the chopstick firmly down the center.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
