Sweets and drinksFried CakesVietnamAbout 5 hours, including the resting stages
Breakfast with chao starts with a plate of quay nong. A good one is hollow and airy inside with a golden, crisp shell. The difficult part is the resting, because cutting that time short leaves the sticks flat.
The dough is kneaded briskly, rested 20 minutes, kneaded again, rested again, and put through one more round. It is then rolled 1 to 1.5cm thick, covered with a damp cloth and rested a further 3 to 4 hours.
This batch weighs about 824g, at roughly 221 calories per 100g.
Method
Put 9g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 5g of salt and 500g of all purpose flour in a large bowl and mix well. Dissolve 5g of bot khai in 50ml of water, and dissolve 5g of baking soda in another 50ml of water.
Pour the two dissolved mixtures into the flour one after the other, mix well, then add the rest of the water and knead briskly for 1 to 2 minutes.
Cover with a damp cloth and rest the dough for 20 minutes. Knead again for 1 to 2 minutes and rest another 20 minutes. Repeat once more, then roll the dough out about 1 to 1.5cm thick, cover it with a damp cloth and rest it for 3 to 4 hours.
Roll the dough into a rectangle and cut it into strips 1 to 1.5cm wide and 7 to 8cm long.
Dip a bamboo skewer in water, press it down the middle of one strip, lay a second strip on top and press lightly so the two stick together.
Heat oil about 4cm deep, lower the heat to medium, stretch each stick out at both ends and lower it in, frying until golden and evenly puffed, then lift onto kitchen paper.
Tips
For crisper sticks, roll the dough 2 to 3mm thick, and for softer ones, roll it 7 to 8mm thick.
Without bot khai, use 5g of baking powder plus 5g of baking soda and cut the salt from 5g to 2g.
The oil has to be hot enough that a stick floats up the moment it goes in.
Stretching both ends before the stick hits the oil is what makes it puff evenly along its length.
Dip the bamboo skewer in water before pressing the groove between the two strips, since a dry skewer glues them together.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.