Yee Chai Peng (Cantonese for “ear biscuits”) were these intriguing spiral-patterned, curved fried pastries from my childhood in Malaysia, which were crunchy, slightly sweet and yet savoury. The only ones I ever ate were factory-made; this wasn’t one of those things that you would find people making fresh at home or at their street stall – certainly not in my hometown of Seremban anyway.
Since I’ve yet to see these biscuits here in Australia, I decided to research how to make them myself; I came across Guai Shu Shu’s blog and ended up using his recipe as a guide (with minor tweaks) during one of my Live Asian Kitchen broadcasts.
As you can see from the results, they look accidentally rustic; I’d been meaning to have another go at this so I could produce a prettier result before posting the recipe, but I’ve already waited too long, plus they tasted great anyway, so here it is.
Ear Biscuits
INGREDIENTS:
White dough
⅔ cup plain flour
40mls of water
⅛ teaspoon of baking soda
Brown dough
¾ cup plain flour
30mls of water
2 Tbsps brown sugar
2 Tbsps oil
1 ½ tsps fermented bean curd
1 tsp five spice powder
⅛ teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
Oil for deep-frying
METHOD:
- Combine white dough ingredients and knead to a soft, pliable texture. Roll into a rectangular shape, approximately 1-2mm in thickness.
- Combine brown dough ingredients and do the same.
- Brush brown dough surface with a little water, then place white dough on top and press down gently.
- Brush white dough with water, then roll the dough sheets into a tight sushi-style cylinder.
- Wrap with cling wrap and freeze for 20-30 minutes.
- Remove cling wrap and cut into thin slices about 1mm in thickness.
- Deep-fry at about 160-180’C until golden brown; remove and drain.
- Cool completely, then store in an airtight container.
My Live Asian Kitchen broadcasts are made possible with the support of the following –
