| A commonly served item in any Chinese breakfast. Known as you tiao in Mandarin, in Cantonese they are known as you za gui, literally "Fried Devils". They are oily, you dip them in hot congee to eat. In Northern China, they are sometimes dipped in soy milk. Very tasty stuff. Crunchy when fried properly.
Lately, the health food epidemic has caught on in Asia, and the oily sticks were the first to be targeted by health-freaks. They called them "Death sticks". In truth, they are as oily as bacon, but who cares? They taste good, especially with congee. I'll die before eating a granola bar for breakfast every day. Fat is good. I like fat.
Like congee, this is very easy to make at home. Sick of cereal? Try it out.
Ingredients (makes 24)
- 1 loaf frozen bread dough
- Oil for deep frying
Cooking
- Thaw bread dough overnight in the refrigerator. About 1 hour before using, remove from the refrigerator and tear dough into about 24 pieces. Roll each between your hands to form a long roll. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
- Heat oil for deep-frying. When oil is ready, take each strip of dough and pull, twisting both ends before dropping into the oil. Deep-fry until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot with congee and Chinese tea. Part of a healthy complete breakfast® (sorry, I couldn't resist).
| 
