A deep white porcelain bowl holds golden fried dough sticks made with egg, milk and butter, each formed from two long strips of dough pressed together, with a pair of wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Cooking food submerged in plenty of hot oil until crisp and golden.
Youtiao is made by cutting leavened wheat dough into strips, pressing 2 together and deep-frying them until crisp outside and hollow inside. It is often eaten at breakfast with soy milk or congee. Names around China include youzhagui in Cantonese, bangchui guozi in Tianjin and daguozi in the Northeast. The usual origin account is a Southern Song legend from Linan, in which a shop assistant shaped dough into figures of Qin Hui and his wife and fried them; no year is given, and no dated original text recording it was found.
What
Youtiao is leavened wheat dough cut into strips, pressed together in pairs and fried in hot oil until crisp outside and hollow inside. It is usually eaten at breakfast with congee or soy milk, or in rolls. It can also be dipped in soy milk, dropped into congee or wrapped in a rice ball.1,2,5,6,7
When
No dated original text was found. The ancient name bufu is traced to the Qimin Yaoshu (Northern Wei), without identifying it as modern youtiao. Accounts of 2 Qing-era books recording the name youzhahui and regional names, including 1 from the Xianfeng era, are retellings. Whether youtiao began in the north or the south is disputed. The Southern Song origin is a legend; an October 7, 2023 report generally traces it to that period but gives no year and cites no history book.1,3,4
Where
It is found throughout China under many names: youzhagui in Cantonese, bangchui guozi in Tianjin, daguozi in the Northeast, mayezi in Shanxi and mianyu in Jiaodong. Related names are used elsewhere in Asia. Whether it began in the north or the south is disputed.1,2,3
How
A leavening agent goes into the dough. Northern cooks traditionally used alum and soda ash, Cantonese areas used ammonium bicarbonate, and many shops now use aluminum-free agents. In 2 home recipes, baking powder is used: the dough is rested and cut into strips, 2 strips are stacked and pressed with a chopstick down the middle, then stretched and fried while being turned.1,5,6
Why
The reason for eating it this way is not explained, and this entry does not guess. Soy milk is believed by some to offset the heatiness of fried foods.7
Impact and influence
It is a regular item in breakfast lists and can be wrapped in a rice ball. No intangible heritage or time-honored-brand listing was found for it.2,7
Legend has it that in the Southern Song, after Yue Fei was killed at Fengbo Pavilion, a shop assistant in Linan, today's Hangzhou (named Wang Xiao'er in one account), shaped dough into figures of Qin Hui and his wife, pressed them together and fried them as youzhahui. The two figures were later said to have joined into two strips of dough.
Told in: A Southern Song tale set in Linan (Hangzhou), told in Chinese Wikipedia, English Wikipedia, a People's Daily Press digest article (undated in the text) and an October 7, 2023 report in The Paper; the last gives no year and cites no history book, and no dated text recording the story was found.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home: the dough is leavened with baking powder, not the agents shops use, so mine comes close to youtiao without matching a stall's. I drew on two published recipes by named authors. The dough amounts and method follow one of them, which rests the dough in the refrigerator overnight and measures in US cups and spoons, left as written. The other gives rest times and temperature units that contradict each other, so I used it only to compare amounts and frying temperature. The two recipes give different oil temperatures, so I test the oil with a scrap of dough, which is my own way.
Ingredients
Flour 2 cups (the other recipe gives 300 g for 2 cups)
Egg 1
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons
Milk 1 tablespoon
Butter 2 tablespoons
Water about 1/3 cup, added in stages
Frying oil enough for deep-frying, about 5 cm deep, my own choice
Steps
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder, add the egg, milk and butter, then add the water in stages and bring it together into a dough. Knead for about 15 minutes, then cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Shape the dough into a rectangle about 0.6 cm thick, cover it, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, take it out and let it soften at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours, then cut it into strips about 2.5 cm wide.
Stack two strips, press a chopstick down the middle, and stretch them with both hands to about 23 cm.
Heat plenty of oil in a deep pot. The two recipes give different temperatures, about 205 to 220 degrees Celsius in one and about 180 to 190 in the other, so I test with a scrap of dough: it should bubble and rise at once when dropped in. I fry one stick to test.
Lower the dough into the oil and fry it, turning with chopsticks, for about 1 minute per stick until golden and puffed, then lift it out to drain. Break one open: it is done only when no raw dough is left inside.
Tips
The oil is very hot, so I never leave the stove while frying and keep water out of the pot. This is my own caution.
Chinese Wikipedia says shop youtiao is leavened with alum and soda ash or ammonium bicarbonate. I use baking powder, so mine is a home version and will not match a stall's.
