Pa Thong Ko: Thai-Style Chinese Crullers (ปาท่องโก๋)
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Cook time: 
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Serves: Makes 16 pairs
 
Ingredients
  • 260g (about 2 cups and 3 tablespoons) bread flour, plus more for dusting
  • 170g (3/4 cup) lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F)
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) active dry yeast
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) baking ammonia (see notes)
  • ½ teaspoon alum powder (see notes)
  • 8g (1½ teaspoons) salt
  • 14g (1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 4g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients, except baking powder, into the bowl of an electric mixer attached with a dough hook; mix on medium-high for 8-10 minutes. The dough will be quite wet, and you may be tempted to add more flour to it. Don't. The moisture in the dough is what creates steam inside the crullers when they're in the hot oil. Besides, once the dough has rested, it becomes a bit firmer and more manageable.
  2. Put about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (additional to 1 tablespoon in the dough) into a separate bowl and rub the bottom of the bowl with it. With oiled hands, form the dough into a round ball as best as you can. If you can't turn it into a smooth ball, don't worry. It doesn't matter. Make sure the dough ball is covered with oil.
  3. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 4-5 hours.
  4. After 4-5 hours, you will see that dough has not risen much, if at all; no worries. Everything's fine.
  5. Take the dough out onto your kitchen counter which has been dusted with more flour. Spread it out with your hands. Sprinkle the baking powder all over the surface of the dough.
  6. Fold the dough in half over itself and push it slightly forward with the heels of your hands. Give the dough a quarter turn; repeat with the folding and stretching 3-4 more times.
  7. Once the baking powder has been incorporated into the dough, form the dough into a ball.
  8. Cut the ball in half.
  9. Working with one half at a time (keep the other half covered), spread the dough out with your hands and pat it down until you get an 8x5-inch rectangle.
  10. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise into 8 strips of equal size, then cut the 8 strips crosswise in half.
  11. Repeat the process with remaining dough.
  12. Heat some vegetable oil in a fryer, making sure the oil is at least 3 inches deep.
  13. While waiting for the oil to heat up, get a bowl of water and start making conjoined dough twins. You do that by rubbing some water in the middle of one piece of dough (covering about an inch) on top of another piece of dough and pressing the two together at the spot where the water is. Arrange them on a platter in a single layer. Repeat until you've run out of dough strips.
  14. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees F (if you don't have a thermometer, do a chopstick test by pressing the tip of a wooden chopstick against the bottom of the fryer. If you see bubbles, the oil is ready), gently lower the twins into it. Don't crowd the fryer. You don't want the oil temperature to drop too quickly, and you want to have enough room to flip the twins around.
  15. Flip the twins around (did I just repeat myself?) constantly (This is easy to do with a pair of wooden chopsticks.) until they have puffed up and become golden brown all over.
  16. Fish them out onto a paper towel-lined cookie sheet. Arrange them in a single layer.
  17. Consume when slightly warm. Serve with sweetened condensed milk or Thai dipping custard (sangkhaya).
Recipe by SheSimmers at https://shesimmers.com/2012/08/pa-thong-ko-thai-style-chinese-crullers-%e0%b8%9b%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%97%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%87%e0%b9%82%e0%b8%81%e0%b9%8b.html