Youtiao with Hot Soy Milk

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 180ml water
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 5g salt
• 6g baking powder
• 2g baking soda
• 15g neutral oil, plus 1 litre for frying
• 200g dried soybeans
• 1.5 litres water, for the soy milk
• Sugar or salt, to season the soy milk
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Before you cook

• Soak the soybeans in plenty of cold water overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
• Whisk the salt, baking powder and baking soda into the 180ml of water until dissolved.
• Beat the egg and the 15g of oil into that water.
• Pour the liquid into the flour and mix to a very soft sticky dough with no dry patches.
• Fold the dough over on itself a few times with oiled hands every 20 minutes for the first hour, then cover it and refrigerate overnight.

Steps

1. Drain the soaked soybeans and rub off any loose skins.
2. Blend the beans with the 1.5 litres of water in batches until completely smooth.
3. Strain the blended mixture through a fine cloth, squeezing hard to extract all the milk.
4. Pour the strained milk into a pan and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly so it does not catch.
5. Boil the soy milk for 8 minutes to cook out its raw taste, watching that it does not climb the pan.
6. Season the soy milk to taste with sugar or salt and keep it hot.
7. Take the cold dough out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
8. Turn the dough onto a well-oiled bench and press it into a rectangle about 1.5cm thick without kneading it.
9. Cut the rectangle into strips 2cm wide.
10. Stack one strip on top of another and press a chopstick down the length of the pair to join them.
11. Repeat with the remaining strips so you have four or five joined pairs.
12. Heat the frying oil to 190C in a deep pan.
13. Hold a pair of strips at both ends, stretch it to about 25cm, and twist it once as you lower it into the oil.
14. Roll the dough with chopsticks as soon as it starts to puff, keeping it turning so it inflates evenly.
15. Fry for about 90 seconds, until the youtiao is deep gold, hollow and light in the hand.
16. Lift it onto a rack and fry the rest one at a time.
17. Pour the hot soy milk into bowls and serve the youtiao alongside for tearing and dunking.