Ox-Tongue Doughnuts 牛脷酥
These Chinese doughnuts were one of my favourites while growing up. However, like many snacks from my childhood, I never knew its name. They were usually available from market stalls without any names attached to it, so they were identified just by recognition, and usually could be bought by just telling the stall owner, “I want two of these, three of that… ”. Thus it wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally knew its name from a photo I saw in a cookbook. The name actually refers to the shape of the fried doughnuts, which resemble ox-tongues.
After making the sourdough starter last week, I have now finally been able to try it out. However not having eaten it for almost ten years, I have very vague memory of how it should actually taste like. The only thing I remembered was that it was slightly chewy with a mild sweet taste, slightly crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Then again, that described the deep-fried dough of the jam doughnuts I love to eat too… So did my memory serve me correctly? Anyway, my batch of these doughnuts came quite close to these textures, and I wolfed down five to six of these as soon as they were done, oh, of course they were just mini-sized ones! Maybe it was just that I haven’t tasted it for so long, hehehe……
I have decided not to post the recipe for the moment, unless someone really wants it, as I think I need to tweak it slightly for next time. The three or four recipes on my hand, which I used as references for my batch, all have slightly different ingredients; some have alum in them, some included baking powder, some added a bit of fermented red bean curd (南乳), all of which I have omitted for my batch. I also have a bit of problems with the sweetened internal dough, which fell off some of the doughnuts while deep-frying… But they were just minor problems, the doughnuts still tasted yummy!
These are shaped-doughs ready for deep-frying.
A closer look at the inside of the Chinese Ox-Tongue Doughnut.
Addendum May 28, 2005
Here is the current recipe, but I think it still needs to be tweaked slightly for next time.
[Ingredients]
Outer Dough:
80g sourdough starter
150g plain flour
125ml water
50g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, or adjust for sourness of dough
1/8 teaspoon baking ammonia 臭粉
pinch salt
110g plain flour (see tip)
1 teaspoon gluten flour (see tip)
Inner Dough:
50g plain flour
50g icing sugar
10g lard
15ml water
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. For the Outer Dough: The night before making the ox-tongue doughnuts, mix 80g sourdough starter with 150g plain flour and 125ml water, then covered mixing bowl loosely and leave to prove overnight, or until honeycomb structure formed in the dough and the surface flattens out. The next morning, add in the rest of the Outer Dough ingredients and knead until smooth. Let it prove until double in size.
2. For the Inner Dough: Mix all ingredients to form a dough.
3. After the Outer Dough is doubled in size, punch down and knead briefly. Roll out into 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Roll the Inner Dough out into 10cm x 30cm rectangle. Put the Inner Dough sheet on top of the Outer Dough sheet, fold the overlapping Outer Dough to enclose the Inner Dough, seal edges with a little water if necessary (see tip). The cut approximately into 2cm-wide pieces. Place cut side up and let prove for about 1 hour, covered. (To make mini sized doughnuts, roll Outer Dough into 10cm x 60cm sheet and Inner Dough into 5cm x 60cm sheet.)
4. Deep-fry in medium hot oil (around 180°C), turning the doughnuts regularly, until golden brown.
[Tip]
1. The 110g plain flour and 1 teaspoon gluten flour can be substituted with 110g bread flour (high gluten flour).
2. When wrapping the Inner Dough inside the Outer Dough, make sure the edges are sealed properly, or else the Inner Dough might falls off while deep-frying.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.
After making the sourdough starter last week, I have now finally been able to try it out. However not having eaten it for almost ten years, I have very vague memory of how it should actually taste like. The only thing I remembered was that it was slightly chewy with a mild sweet taste, slightly crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Then again, that described the deep-fried dough of the jam doughnuts I love to eat too… So did my memory serve me correctly? Anyway, my batch of these doughnuts came quite close to these textures, and I wolfed down five to six of these as soon as they were done, oh, of course they were just mini-sized ones! Maybe it was just that I haven’t tasted it for so long, hehehe……
I have decided not to post the recipe for the moment, unless someone really wants it, as I think I need to tweak it slightly for next time. The three or four recipes on my hand, which I used as references for my batch, all have slightly different ingredients; some have alum in them, some included baking powder, some added a bit of fermented red bean curd (南乳), all of which I have omitted for my batch. I also have a bit of problems with the sweetened internal dough, which fell off some of the doughnuts while deep-frying… But they were just minor problems, the doughnuts still tasted yummy!
These are shaped-doughs ready for deep-frying.
A closer look at the inside of the Chinese Ox-Tongue Doughnut.
Addendum May 28, 2005
Here is the current recipe, but I think it still needs to be tweaked slightly for next time.
[Ingredients]
Outer Dough:
80g sourdough starter
150g plain flour
125ml water
50g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, or adjust for sourness of dough
1/8 teaspoon baking ammonia 臭粉
pinch salt
110g plain flour (see tip)
1 teaspoon gluten flour (see tip)
Inner Dough:
50g plain flour
50g icing sugar
10g lard
15ml water
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
1. For the Outer Dough: The night before making the ox-tongue doughnuts, mix 80g sourdough starter with 150g plain flour and 125ml water, then covered mixing bowl loosely and leave to prove overnight, or until honeycomb structure formed in the dough and the surface flattens out. The next morning, add in the rest of the Outer Dough ingredients and knead until smooth. Let it prove until double in size.
2. For the Inner Dough: Mix all ingredients to form a dough.
3. After the Outer Dough is doubled in size, punch down and knead briefly. Roll out into 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Roll the Inner Dough out into 10cm x 30cm rectangle. Put the Inner Dough sheet on top of the Outer Dough sheet, fold the overlapping Outer Dough to enclose the Inner Dough, seal edges with a little water if necessary (see tip). The cut approximately into 2cm-wide pieces. Place cut side up and let prove for about 1 hour, covered. (To make mini sized doughnuts, roll Outer Dough into 10cm x 60cm sheet and Inner Dough into 5cm x 60cm sheet.)
4. Deep-fry in medium hot oil (around 180°C), turning the doughnuts regularly, until golden brown.
[Tip]
1. The 110g plain flour and 1 teaspoon gluten flour can be substituted with 110g bread flour (high gluten flour).
2. When wrapping the Inner Dough inside the Outer Dough, make sure the edges are sealed properly, or else the Inner Dough might falls off while deep-frying.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.
Labels: Asian Buns and Pancakes
posted by SeaDragon @ 26.4.05
3 Comments:
hi
your ox-tongue Doughnut looks delicious, i have been looking for a recipe for this and would love to learn how to make it.it was one of my favourite as well, would do you mind posting the recipe? by the way, got to your blog website through Kitchen Capers, i think, thanks again
Hi d9562591,
Welcome and thank you. I will try to type this current version up for you in a few days time (I'm quite busy at the moment). You need to have the sourdough starter to make it as that's what I used. :)
sd
don't remember having this ox-tongue in Kuala Lumpur. Have ate the glutinous rice in the middle of hum cheem paeng or one that is darker with sesame seeds - 2 ends pinched tight with an oblong hole. like you said, have no name to this snacks. Have tried once making but it did not turn out well
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