Oil sticks are a common and simple food familiar to every Chinese person. Every morning, many people choose to have a piece of oil stick, a steamed bun, and a bowl of congee for breakfast. The key to making a good oil stick lies in controlling the frying time, and modern people attach great importance to health, so when making homemade oil sticks, attention should be paid to these aspects.

Frying?Other flavors for 5 hours and 15 minutes?Low calorie

Main ingredients?For 3 people, 250 grams of flour

Seasonings:

165 grams of water, 2 grams of salt, 3 grams of yeast powder, 1 gram of baking soda, 10 grams of salad oil

Step 1 of frying oil sticks

Ingredients for making oil sticks: 250 grams of all-purpose flour (half a jin), 150 grams of water (for the dough) + 15 grams (for the soda water), 2 grams of salt, 3 grams of instant dry yeast powder, 1 gram of baking soda, 10 grams of edible oil. A certain amount of frying oil is needed. Additionally, if not for children, you can add 1 to 2 grams of aluminum-free baking powder mixed with flour and use it evenly

Step 2

Place the flour (and baking powder if any) and yeast together on the countertop, dig a small hole in the middle, add water gradually, knead the flour and water in the middle until well combined, then add more water, continue until you can form a smooth dough. Cover with a lid or a container like a pot and let it ferment

Step 3

After the dough has fermented to twice its size, apply some oil on your palm, and press out the air in the dough

Step 4

Mix 10 grams of edible oil and the dough together and knead evenly

Step 5

Continue to cover with a bowl or pot cover for 20 minutes.

Step 6

Mix baking soda and 15 grams of water to make baking soda water. Hold your fist with your right hand, and use the back of your hand to dip a little baking soda water into the dough, kneading it evenly.

Step 7

Knead it into a dough again, cover it with a container, and let it ferment to twice its size.

Step 8

Take it out and press out the air with your palm, and the oil dough is ready.

Step 9

With your hands and rolling pin, apply oil, and shape the dough into a rectangle about half a centimeter thick and one finger long (the length of the middle finger, because the pot at home is small, and it won’t fit if it’s too long).

Step 10

Pour half a pot of oil into the flat bottom pot, heat it over medium heat. With oil on your hands, cut the dough into pieces about two fingers wide.

Step 11

Stack one on top of the other

Step 12

Dip the chopsticks in a little oil, press down from the middle to make the oil stick dough.

Step 13

When the oil is about 70 degrees hot, after stretching the oil stick dough, slowly put it into the pot for frying. After it floats up, use chopsticks to gently flip it over after about 5-6 seconds, and continue frying. When the oil stick is basically set, it should be flipped frequently to prevent one side from burning while the other side is not yet cooked. When the oil stick turns golden yellow and expands significantly, it can be taken out to drain the oil and enjoyed. Be careful not to burn your mouth!

Precautions:

The dough must be well-leavened, and only when the dough is well-leavened can it be fluffy when fried.

The oil stick dough cannot be too thin or too thin, otherwise, even if the oil stick is fully expanded, it cannot form large holes.

Adding baking powder can make the oil stick fluffy.

Baking soda is not the same as baking powder, nor is it the same as yeast. Baking soda is an acid salt, chemically known as sodium bicarbonate, which generates sodium carbonate when heated, which is what we commonly call alkali, water, and carbon dioxide (Wow! As a humanities student, I still remember the chemistry I learned 15 years ago very clearly!). Among them, carbon dioxide is a gas that can create holes in the dough, making the oil stick fluffy!

Baking soda is not the same as baking powder. Baking soda is an acid salt, chemically known as sodium bicarbonate, which generates sodium carbonate, which we commonly call alkali, water, and carbon dioxide (Wow! As a humanities student, I still remember the chemistry I learned 15 years ago very clearly!). Among them, carbon dioxide is a gas that can create holes in the dough, making the oil stick fluffy. The effect of baking soda is basically the same, but it is not as exaggerated as washing clothes, and it is an additive that can be used in food.

Baking powder is what makes the dough expand.

When we look at the oil stick dough being sold outside, it is usually sprinkled with a layer of flour. At home, there is no need to do this, just apply oil directly. This way, the oil used to fry the oil stick has fewer impurities. If you sprinkle flour, when the oil stick dough is fried in the pot, some flour on the surface of the oil stick dough will fall into the pot. After the oil sticks are fried, there will be a layer of flour at the bottom of the pot.

The oil stick must be fully fermented at least twice and leavened once. The final oil dough should be soft, smooth, and extensible, somewhat similar to the dough used for making bread.

When flipping the oil stick, you can only use chopsticks to gently push it from the side below the oil stick dough, without flipping it over with the oil stick. At that time, the oil stick has not yet set, and if you hold the oil stick, it is easy to be pinched together and cannot be fluffy.