Cakwe/Youtiao (Crisp Chinese Crullers/Fried Breadsticks)

In Indonesian & English (the English version is below the recipe written in Indonesian)

Bahan

• 200 gr Terigu, 120 ml Air, 2½ st Baking powder
• ½ st Gula, ½ st Bawang putih bubuk, Minyak goreng
• 3 sm Minyak sayur, 5 gr Baking soda, ¾ st Garam

Saus Cakwe/Youtiao pedas:

• 100 ml Air, 1 Bawang putih, 1 st Garam, 2 sm Gula
• 1 Cabai keriting, 1½ Cabai merah, 1 sm Cuka
• 1 st Maizena+1 sm Air

Cara membuat

• Campur rata baking powder, baking soda, terigu, garam, gula & baw.pth bubuk. Buat lubang ditengah campuran, tuang minyak & air di lubang tsb. Aduk dng spatula sampai menyatu. Uleni dng tangan ± 2 mnt hingga terbentuk adonan kasar. Tutup adonan & biaran 1 jam.
• Angkat salah 1 sisi adonan kmd lipat ke arah sisi yg berlawanan. Pukul/tinju adonan, ulangi prosedur utk semua sisi lainnya sebanyak 10 kali. Balik adonan, ulangi prosedur pelipatan & pemukulan. Bulatkan adonan & biarkan selama 5 mnt. Adonan akan tampak lembab & lengket. Mskkan adonan ke kantung plastik & simpan di kulkas 8-12 jam.
• Keluarkan dr kukas, diamkan adonan ± 45 mnt sampai mencapai suhu ruang. Minyaki meja kerja & tangan. Gulung adonan perlahan2 sampai membtk stick/tongkat yg rapi sepanjang ± 40 cm. Tekan2 dng kedua tangan utk menipiskan adonan dng rata (pertahankan panjangnya) menjadi persegi berukuran lebar 5 cm & tebal ½ cm. Potong kedua ujung adonan. Ptg2 adonan setiap ± 2½ cm. Tempatkan setengah dari jumlah bilah potongan secara terpisah/berjarak. Ulasi tusukan sate/bambu dng sedikit minyak. Perlahan tekan tusukan di tengah2 bilah adonan yg sdh diberi jarak tsb dng arah memanjang (jangan sampai memotong). Ambil bilah yg blm ditekan, susun di atas bilah yg sdh ditekan. Tekan bagian tengah dari tumpukan adonan tsb secara memanjang dng tusukan utk melekatkan keduanya.
• Isi wajan besar dng minimal 6 cm minyak & panaskan hingga 180° C. Mskkan potongan dari sisi ujung utk menguji apakah minyak sdh cukup panas (adonan cepat mengapung bila suhunya benar). Kecilkan api ke sedang. Angkat 1 adonan tumpuk dng kedua tangan, pegang dekat sisi ujung2nya. Tarik ulur adonan sambil perlahan2 adonan dibentur2kan ke meja kerja sampai adonan memanjang seukuran 20-25 cm. Mskkan adonan panjang ke minyak pns & goreng. Adonan akan segera mengapung. Balik2 adonan terus menerus dng sumpit/sutil. Gunakan sumpit utk sedikit merenggangkan ujung adonan agar dpt mengembang dng lbh baik. Goreng sampai kuning kecoklatan. Angkat & ltkkan di atas rak atau kertas penyerap minyak.
• Saus cakwe pedas: Buang biji cabai bila ingin saus tdk terlalu pedas. Blender halus cabai2, baw. pth, air, gula, cuka & garam. Masak saus hingga rasa menyatu. Tuangi larutan maizena, aduk2 utk sedikit mengentalkan saus. Angkat
• Sajikan cakwe/youtiao dng saus cakwe atau cakwe dapat juga dimakan dng Bubur ayam bumbu kuning atau Bubur ayam Oriental (klik pada link untuk resep2nya).

Ingredients

• 200 gr all-purpose Flour, 2½ tsp Baking powder
• 5 gr Baking soda, 120 ml Water, ¾ tsp Salt, frying Oil
• ½ tsp Garlic powder, 3 tbsp Vegetable oil, ½ tsp Sugar

Cakwe/Youtiao Chili sauce:

• 100 ml Water, 1 clove Garlic, 1 Cayenne pepper
• 1½ Red chilies, 1 tbsp Vinegar, 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Cornstarch+1 tbsp Water, 1 tsp Salt

Directions

• Mix well the baking powder, baking soda, flour, salt, sugar & garlic powder. Make a well in the middle; pour the vegetable oil & water into the well. Stir with a spatula until incorporated. Knead with your hands for ~ 2 min until rough dough formed. Cover the dough & let it rest for 1 hour.
• Lift up the dough from 1 side & then fold it to the opposite direction. Punch the dough with your fist. Repeat the procedure with all of the dough sides for another 10 times. Turn the dough over & repeat the folding & punching procedure. Round the dough & let it rest for 5 min. The dough should look moist & sticky. Put the dough in a plastic bag & then refrigerate it for 8-12 hours.
• Remove from the fridge; let the dough rest in the plastic bag for ~ 45 min to reach room temp. Grease the working space & Ur hands; gently roll the dough out to a ~ 40 cm long neat stick. Press it with both hand to flattened the dough to 5 cm width & ½ cm thick rectangle (maintain the length). Cut off both ends of the dough. Cut the dough into ~ 2½ cm strips; then place half amount of the strips, apart from each other. Brush/spread a little oil in a skewer. Gently press down the skewer lengthwise in the middle of each separated dough strips (don`t cut it). Take the un-pressed dough strips & then stack them on top of the pressed strips. Use the skewer to press down the stacked strips lengthwise in the middle, to seal them together.
• Fill a large wok/frying pan with at least 6 cm of frying oil; preheat the oil to 180° C. Put in the end cut of the dough to test if the oil reached the right temp (the dough should be floats quickly when the temp is right). Lower the heat to medium. Use both hands to lift the stacked dough; hold it near the dough`s ends. Stretch it out & bump the dough on the table several times to make it to 20-25 cm long. Drop the long dough into the hot oil & fry. The dough will float to the surface quickly. Use a chopstick/tong to keep on flipping the dough around. Use the chopstick to loosen the dough ends a little, so that it has enough room to puff up. Fry until it turns golden brown. Remove from the oil & put it on a rack/paper towel to drain the excess oil.
• Chili sauce: Blend the chilies (seed the chilies to make the sauce less spicy), garlic, water, sugar, vinegar & salt in a food processor. Boil the mixture until the flavor blended. Add in cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce a bit.
• Serve the cakwe/youtiao with the chili sauce or you can eat them with Indonesian chicken rice porridge with yellow broth or Oriental Chicken Rice Porridge (click on the link2 for the recipe).