You Tiao, Fried Chinese Doughnuts 油条

🧂 Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 6 g baking powder
• 2 g baking soda
• 3 g fine salt
• 15 ml vegetable oil

  and more for brushing
• 1 egg

  room temperature, about 60g with shell
• 130-150 ml water

  room temperature

Instructions

• 1 In a large mixing bowl, combine 300g plain flour, 6g baking powder, 2g baking
  soda, 3g fine salt and mix until well-combined.
• 2 Add 1 egg and 15ml vegetable oil and use a chopstick to mix. Mixture will be
  uneven and lumpy but that's normal.
• 3 Add 130-150ml of water gradually, according to the absorption rate of the dry
  ingredients, use 130ml of water at first and if it's still dry after mixing, add
  a little more water. Mix well with chopstick until the dough becomes hard to
  mix. Then start kneading with hands. Dough will turn out damp, sticky and
  lumpy. 
• 4 Add about 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil and rub over the dough. Cover up and let it
  rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• 5 Knead the dough by gently punching it with your fist for about 1 to 2 minutes.
  Dough will turn softer and smoother.
• 6 Add about 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil and rub over the dough. Cover up and let it
  rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• 7 Knead the dough by gently punching it with your fist for about 1 minute. Dough
  will turn out even softer and smoother.
• 8 Add about 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil and rub over the dough. Cover up and let it
  rest at room temperature for 3 hours.
  
  Note: You can also keep it in the fridge overnight. Before deep frying, remove
  from fridge and bring to room temperature. This may take a few hours depending
  on your kitchen.
• 9 The dough should be very soft (yet firm) after resting, slightly stretchy and
  will not spring back when poked. If it’s springy, let it rest more. Lay the
  dough on a rolling mat dusted with plain flour, dust some flour on the dough. Do
  not knead anymore at this stage.
• 10 Roll and shape into 24cm x 10cm x 1.5cm thick.
• 11 Cut the dough into 3cm x 5cm x 1.5cm thick pieces.
• 12 Lightly dust the cut doughs (side, front, back) with plain flour. Try to avoid
  flouring the centre portion as we will need to stick the doughs together.
• 13 Wet a chopstick or skewer stick and press it in the middle of each dough.
• 14 Stack 2 doughs on top of each other. Use a wet chopstick or skewer stick and
  press it in the middle of each stack of doughs, making sure the 2 doughs stick
  well.
  
  Note: If the doughs do not stick well, wet the stick again and press again, it
  may be because there is too much flour making the surface too dry. For extra
  stickiness, press the wet stick on both ends of the dough stack.
• 15 Heat about 1.2 litre of vegetable oil in a stainless steel pot, and let it reach
  between 190°C/374°F to 200°C/392°F.
  
  Note: Reduce the heat slightly during deep frying to prevent the temperature to
  keep rising during the cooking process.
• 16 Hold the dough stack on both ends gently and quickly pull the dough to 3-4 times
  the original length.
• 17 Carefully dip the dough into the hot oil. It'll sink and float up within
  seconds. Use a pair of wooden chopsticks and continuously toss the dough as it
  expands. The whole deep frying process will take about 75-90 seconds. Once the
  dough stops expanding and turns an even golden light brown colour, it's ready.
• 18 Remove from oil and place on a plate with baking paper to absorb the excess oil.
  Enjoy it warm and crispy.

Nutrition Info