This is a Taiwanese night market classic and, in my opinion, a must-try snack! 白糖粿 (being ten gui) comes from the southern part of Taiwan and it’s known as the Taiwanese churro! It’s essentially a deep-fried mochi stick tossed in sugar creating a chewy and soft mochi interior encased by a light and crispy shell.
It’s my favorite Taiwanese snack item and deserves so much more hype! In this recipe, I’ll be showing you two of the most popular flavors to make; the peanut and the black sesame.
Yield: 10 Churros
INGREDIENTS:
SUGAR COATING-
FLAVOR 1: CLASSIC PEANUT
- 25g Roasted Peanuts (shelled and skin removed)
- 25g Caster Sugar
FLAVOR 2: BLACK SESAME
- 15g-25g Black Sesame Seeds
- 25g Caster Sugar
DOUGH-
- 100ml Water
- 20g Sugar
- 130g Glutinous Rice Flour
OTHER-
- Vegetable Oil For Frying
STEPS:
SUGAR COATING-
- Blend peanuts into a rough powder and add it to the sugar (it doesn’t have to be too even or fine, the variety in size will give a bit more texture and flavor to the mochi)
- Blend sesame seeds into a rough powder and add it to the sugar
- Add these two sugar mixtures into two separate shallow and wide bowls. Set them aside
MOCHI CHURROS-
- Combine water and sugar in a large bowl. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved into the water
- Add glutinous rice flour and combine with a spatula as best as you can. If the dough looks crumbly, that is normal
- Transfer the dough onto a work surface and knead the dough with your hands. This dough will come together quite quickly, it’ll become a smooth ball of dough and should feel slightly like Play-Doh. The dough should be slightly crumbly when pressed and not stretchy at all.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, about 25g per dough ball. Cover them with a piece of clingfilm to prevent it from drying out as we shape them
- Roll the dough and shape it into a long cylinder (tube/log-like shape). Aim for it to be around 12cm long
- Using your index finger and thumb, press along the dough to slightly flatten it (about 0.6cm thick)
- Grab the ends of the flattened dough and twist until the entire dough is twisted evenly. Cover with clingfilm while we prep the oil
- Grab a small but deep pot and fill it up about 1/4 of the way up. It should be deep enough to submerge the mochi dough fully. Heat it to around 110-150°C. If you do not have a thermometer try this method: Take a wooden chopstick or spoon (any wooden utensil), and place it to the bottom of the pot. When the oil reaches frying temperature, you’ll notice small bubbles sizzling around the wood that is touching the base of the pot. Once the oil is hot enough, bring the heat down to maintain the heat and avoid overheating the oil.
- One at a time (or a few at a time if the pot is big enough), drop in the twisted mochi dough. It will sink to the bottom. Let it sizzle and fry for 2min, then move it with some chopsticks or prongs to release it from the bottom of the pan. It will float to the surface, fry it for another 8min while rotating it every once in a while. When it’s ready it will have puffed up in length and width, the color of the churro should be quite pale but a bit more golden when compared to the original dough color.
- Transfer them onto some paper towels to remove any excess oil then place them onto a cooling rack. While they are still warm/hot (but cool enough to touch), dunk them into the peanut or sesame sugar coating so that it’s fully covered.
- Enjoy while they are still warm! Once cooled, it’s not as good.
INFO:
- WHY TWIST IT? The shape of these churros serves two purposes. They help the sugar adhere to the crevices and they ensure that it gets fried evenly! If these churros were fried without twisting them, they would puff up on one side causing the churro to always float in one orientation. This twisting method ensures that they can be flipped and turned in the oil and that the mochi puffs up all around.
- How do you pronounce 白糖粿 in Taiwanese? 白 – is pronounced “Bei” or “beh”. Kinda like the sound sheep makes. 糖 – is pronounced, “Teng”. Sounds a bit like the word tongue. 粿 – is pronounced, “Gui” or “Gueh”. Not gooey but with an “-eh” as the ending and it’s one syllable
