You Tiao (Chinese Donuts) 油条

Homemade You Tiao (Chinese Donuts) are crispy on the surface, extra airy, fluffy, and tender inside. Learn how to make the classic Chinese breakfast staple with safe ingredients while achieving the best texture, just like the street vendors.

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By Maggie Zhu
Published 02/22/20 Updated 10/25/22

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You Tiao is a savory donut that has a beautiful golden color, is lightly seasoned with salt, with a crispy crust and super airy and fluffy interior that is mostly air. It is addictively TASTY!

These savory fried donuts are usually served with soy sauce, rice congee, or douhua (dou fu nao in Northern China) to create a breakfast that is hearty and delicious. It’s something I ate all the time growing up in Beijing and is one of the things I’ve missed the most since moving to the US.

In the old days, you could easily find You Tiao everywhere, mostly sold by street vendors with a small cart by the side of the road. It was common practice for vendors to use chemicals that did not comply with food safety regulations in order to achieve the perfect texture. In recent years, most of the street food vendors have disappeared and you need to go to a breakfast place or a restaurant chain to find You Tiao. However, none of them are as fresh, crispy, and fluffy as the unsafe ones that the street vendors used to produce.

Why this recipe

We tried to develop a dough that has a golden ratio of crispy outer layers and light and airy insides, using common ingredients that you already have in your pantry. The challenge was to recreate the very light texture without using the hard chemicals that street vendors use. After many tests, we eventually did it!

You only need four ingredients.
The dough is very easy to handle and does not require any equipment to knead it.
This recipe makes shorter donuts, which require less oil and are easier to make in your home kitchen.
The result is perfectly crispy and light You Tiao just like the street vendors serve.

Definitely give this recipe a try if you’ve been missing the authentic taste of China.

Ingredients

The ingredients for You Tiao are super simple. You probably already have them in your pantry.

Cooking equipment

I hate deep-frying food, but there’s no way around if you want to make the best donuts. I found the best practice is to use a smaller pot (mine is about 9” / 22 cm across and 4.5” / 12 cm tall), so you can use less oil. The dough will be easier to work with and it will cause very little splatter on your counter.

Cooking oil

I usually buy a 48 oz. (1.4 L) bottle of cheap vegetable oil and use the whole thing. Once I’m done cooking, I wait until the oil cools down completely and pour it back into the original bottle. Depending on my upcoming cooking plans, I’ll either throw away the bottle of used oil or reuse it for other fried foods.

Cooking process

There are 4 steps to making You Tiao.

Step 1 – Prepare the dough (1st rise)

Sift the flour
Dissolve the baking soda and baking powder in water to activate them
Combine the liquid and dry ingredients
Mix until it forms a coarse dough
Knead the dough for 5 minutes
Rest the dough for 30 minutes

Step 2 – 2nd rise

Once the dough is rested, knead it a couple of times. You’ll notice the dough is much smoother now. Cover the dough again and rest it for the 2nd time.

NOTE: The 2nd rise is crucial for the final texture. We found that the dough that rests overnight in the fridge has the best taste and texture. But if you’re short on time, you can rest the dough at room temperature for 2 hours.

Step 3 – Shape the You Tiao

Divide the dough in half and roll it into a long strip.
You can use both hands to gently stretch the dough to help to shape it.
Cut the dough into small rectangles
Press half of the rectangles with a skewer (or the back of your knife)
Place the unpressed rectangles onto the pressed ones
Press the dough again.

NOTE: You want to make the two rectangular dough pieces attach together when frying, but easily be torn apart once cooked. So you should press them together, but not too hard.

Step 4 – 3rd rise & cook

Rest the shaped You Tiao again while heating the oil
Stretch the dough pieces into long strips
Fry the dough strips, 2 to 3 at a time
The doughnuts are done once they are golden brown on both sides

Now you can enjoy these savory donuts with soy sauce or any breakfast beverage you like!

Storage

You Tiao taste best when served fresh. But you can store them and reheat them later. I’ve tried storing them at room temperature, in the fridge, and in the freezer. They all worked, but I think that frozen You Tiao have the best texture when reheated.

To get the fried dough crispy again, you should heat it up at 400 °F (200 °C) in the oven or use an air fryer. You can even overcook it a bit so the surface will be very crispy (in this case, the inside may become a bit chewy).

Afterthought

I admit that you’ll need to spend some time and effort to make this Chinese breakfast classic. But the result is so rewarding! The donuts will turn out crispy, fluffy, and airy. It tastes SO GOOD that it’s hard not to overeat. Traditionally it’s a breakfast item. But I can eat it any time of day, when I’m craving a salty snack.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Other delicious Chinese breakfast recipes

If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.

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