Chinese

Serving

Chinese Kid-friendly

You Tiao (Chinese Churros)

Name: You Tiao (Chinese Churros)
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 cups All-purpose flour; 1 tsp Baking powder; 1/2 tsp Baking soda; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 Large egg; 1/2 cup Milk (cold); 2 tbsp Cooking oil (plus 4 cups for deep frying)

Long, golden-brown deep-fried dough strips, often eaten with congee or soy milk.

120 minutes

Serves 4

Breakfast

42 min prep

66 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Dairy Wheat

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Good to know

Crispy

Matched from this dish's own ingredients and timing. Browse more: crispy recipes

Instructions

6 steps

1
Make the Dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg, milk, and 2 tbsp oil. Stir until a rough dough forms.
2
Knead and Rest: Knead the dough for 5 minutes until smooth. It will be slightly sticky. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight, to relax the gluten.
3
Shape: Let the dough come to room temperature for 1 hour. On an oiled surface, gently stretch and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/4-inch thick and 3 inches wide. Do not overwork the dough.
4
Cut and Stack: Cut the rectangle into 1-inch wide strips. Take one strip, place it directly on top of another strip, and press down the center lengthwise with a chopstick to fuse the two layers together.
5
Stretch and Fry: Heat 2 inches of oil in a wide pot or wok to 400°F (200°C). Grab the ends of a stacked dough strip, stretch it gently to double its length, and carefully drop it into the hot oil.
6
Puff and Serve: Using long chopsticks, roll the dough continuously in the oil for 1-2 minutes. It will puff up dramatically. Fry until deeply golden and crispy on all sides. Drain on a wire rack and serve immediately with warm congee or soy milk.

You Tiao (Chinese Churros) — plated and served — Serving moment. How You Tiao (Chinese Churros) looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

76/100

Good fit for most families

Allergen-friendly 70

Kid-friendly 85

Weeknight-easy 64

Budget-friendly 86

Great leftovers 93

Pantry-friendly 62

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

270

Calories

9 g

Protein

49 g

Carbs

4 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

You tiao (literally oily twist) are long, lightly salted, deep-fried dough sticks that have been eaten across China for breakfast for at least a thousand years, with written references appearing in Song dynasty texts. The pairing of you tiao with congee, doujiang (soy milk), or warm rice porridge is the defining morning meal of much of China and the Chinese diaspora across Southeast Asia. A popular folk story links their creation to a protest against a corrupt Song official named Qin Hui; two dough strips fried together were said to represent his execution, which is why you tiao are always made and sold in linked pairs.

Listahan note

This version uses a rested dough with a small amount of baking powder and baking soda so the crullers puff dramatically in the oil and stay airy inside without the alarming amounts of chemical leavener found in some older recipes.

Technique cues

Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours after mixing; the gluten needs to relax so that when you stretch and pull the strips they elongate without springing back.
Oil must reach 375 F before you add the dough; oil that is too cool produces dense, greasy sticks that do not puff, while oil that is too hot burns the outside before the inside sets.
Turn the sticks continuously with chopsticks or tongs the moment they enter the oil; constant rotation ensures even puffing on all sides and prevents one face from setting before the others can expand.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Make the dough the night before and let it rest in the refrigerator; cold-retarded dough is easier to handle and can go straight from the fridge to the stretching step in the morning.
Make-ahead: Fry you tiao fully and freeze on a sheet in a single layer, then transfer to a bag; reheat at 375 F in an oven for 8 minutes for a nearly fresh result.
Leftover move: Day-old you tiao can be sliced into coins and added to congee or soups where they absorb liquid and become a chewy, savory element similar to croutons.
Cleanup rhythm: Strain the frying oil through a fine mesh strainer immediately after frying while it is still warm; strained oil can be reused two or three more times for neutral-flavor frying.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

all-purpose flour

dough structure

Purpose: All-purpose flour provides the right gluten development for dough that is extensible enough to stretch thin without tearing.

Handling: Measure by weight if possible for consistency; spoon and level if using volume.

Adaptation: Bread flour produces a chewier, less airy result; cake flour produces too soft a dough to handle easily.

baking powder

primary lift

Purpose: Baking powder provides the gas expansion when the dough hits the hot oil that creates the dramatic puffed exterior.

Handling: Whisk directly into the flour before adding liquids to ensure even distribution.

Adaptation: No direct structural substitute; the dough relies on chemical leavening, not yeast.

neutral oil (in dough)

tenderness

Purpose: A small amount of oil worked into the dough inhibits gluten formation just enough to keep the finished stick tender inside rather than bready.

Handling: Add to the wet ingredients and incorporate thoroughly before mixing into the flour.

Adaptation: Any neutral oil (canola, vegetable, sunflower) works identically.

salt

flavor

Purpose: You tiao are a savory food and the salt is what distinguishes them from sweet fried dough; the seasoning should be assertive.

Handling: Dissolve in the warm water before adding to the flour so it distributes evenly rather than creating salty pockets.

Adaptation: No swap needed; salt is essential to the character of the dish.

Technique notes

Press two individual strips together firmly along their length before frying; the pressed seam expands outward in the oil and creates the classic double-ridged profile that is structurally stronger than a single strip.
Do not crowd the oil; you tiao need room to expand and rotate freely, so fry two at a time in a home setting rather than filling the pot.
Serve within 10 minutes of frying; you tiao go from crisp and airy to dense and chewy as they cool and should be eaten as quickly as possible after coming out of the oil.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Gluten-free you tiao are technically challenging because the dough relies on gluten extensibility for the stretch; a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with added xanthan gum gives the closest approximation.
Lower-oil direction: Air-frying at 400 F for 10 to 12 minutes produces a result that is less puffy and lighter in color but still serviceable for dipping in congee.
Weeknight shortcut: Some Asian grocery stores sell frozen you tiao that can be deep-fried or toasted directly; the texture is not identical to fresh but significantly better than nothing when you do not have time to make dough.

Serve alongside

congee (rice porridge)
warm sweetened soy milk
sesame paste dipping sauce
warm doujiang (soy milk)
hot oolong tea

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

You tiao are best eaten fresh; leftover sticks can be stored at room temperature for up to 8 hours in a paper bag (not airtight, which steams them soft).
Freeze for longer storage and reheat in a 375 F oven for 8 to 10 minutes directly from frozen.

Equipment

deep heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven for stable frying temperature
instant-read thermometer for monitoring oil temperature
long chopsticks or tongs for rotating sticks in the oil

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