Fried dough foods
Many cultures have dishes made by
deep frying dough of one form or another.
*
China -
Chinese cuisine has several fried treats, such as the
matuan, typically covered in sesame seeds.
**
Chinese restaurants in the US sometimes serve small fried pastries similar to
doughnut holes.
**
Youtiao*
India**
vadas are made with lentils and look like ring donuts, although are not typically sweet.
**
Puri (food)*
Japan **
Taiyaki - A Fish shaped, pancake like treat uaually filled with
red bean paste.
*
South East Asia**In
Malaysia and
Singapore there is a traditional ball-shaped doughnut-like snack, made with glutinous rice flour, coated with sesame seeds and stuffed - not topped - with a variety of fillings, such as ground peanuts, bean paste and kaya. There is a
Malaysian machine which makes, among other things, "
Kaya Balls" whose recipe and description seems to indicate pretty conclusively that they are a very doughnut-like snack (although they are ball-shaped rather than toroidal) with coconut (
Kaya) being the primary flavouring ingredient and they seem to be baked rather than fried. The machine also makes "corn balls, red bean balls, blueberry balls and custard balls" (which might also be considered to be varieties of doughnut-like items) and the maker also has another machine dedicated to making
elephant ears and
frying saucers.
**Another well known delicacy to be found in this region, especially Malaysia is the
pisang goreng, or fried banana. The banana is fried after being covered in a mixture of flour and then fried, giving it a crispy exterior and a sweet interior
*
France**
beignet (and the pastry is also present in
New Orleans,
Louisiana, USA) - Sometimes described as a French doughnut but, as with other 'variants' of fried sweet pastry, the beignet typically has its own distinctive characteristics (shape and texture) which are sufficient in the minds of some of its devotees to object to Beignets being referred to as doughnuts.
*
Germany**
Bismarcks or
Berliners, the doughnut equivalents, don't have the typical ring shape but instead are solid, usually filled with jam. (German doughnuts are sometimes called Berlin Doughnuts in the USA.)
*
Italy**
zeppole (also known as
St. Joseph's Day Cakes) - a light, doughnut hole sized pastry, filled with sweet fillings.
**
Chiacchiere and
lattughe in
Lombardy**
Cenci and
Donzelle in
Tuscany**
Frappe and
Sfrappole in
Emilia Romagna**
Bugie in
Genoa and in
Piedmont**
Crostoli in
Venice and in
Trentino*
Netherlands **
Oliebollen - Referred to as
Dutch Doughnuts (or occasionally as 'Dutch Donuts') which contain pieces of apple and/or dried fruit like raisins, and is traditionally eaten as part of new year celebrations.
*
Spain - (and also
Mexico,
Chile,
Argentina and
Brazil)
**
churro - a thin cylinder of deep-fried pastry with a characteristic 'ridged' surface, due to being extruded through a star shaped hole. It is also popular in the US where it is sometimes referred to as a "Spanish Doughnut" or "Mexican Doughnut". In Spain, churros are often had for breakfast or in local
fiestas, matched with thick
chocolate or
white coffee. They are sometimes homemade or bought frozen to fry at home, but most are bought at cafes or from fixed or ambulatory
churrerías.
**
porras (thicker churros with a round section) - are often served for breakfast, especially in
Madrid).
*
frutas de sartén ("
pan fruits") (fried dough and other fried sweets) were popular since most homes lacked an oven to prepare other cakes.
*
Hungary**
Langos*general
**A Middle Eastern and North African variety of fried dough are called
Sfinges or
Sfingi.
**
Falafel*
Turkey**Tulumba Tatlisi - a small, twisted variety of churro which looks nothing like the typical large, un-twisted stick-like churro.
*
Israel (
Jewish)
**
Sufganiyah*
United States**
Funnel cake - A creation which is made with 'fried sweet pastry' where the pastry dough is extruded through a funnel into a pan of hot oil and allowed to 'criss-cross' in the oil until the string of dough fills the bottom of the pan in a kind of tangled
spaghetti-like arrangement, which is cooked as a 'cake' rather than being the 'individual snack'. Funnel cakes are usually associated with
carnivals and
fairs, much like 'candy-floss' (
cotton candy).
**
Frybread (also known as "popovers") is a
Native American fried dough which may range from bread-like to donut-like depending on the source, as many tribes use different recipes.
**
Fudge Puppy is occasionally found on sale in the US at fairs and public entertainment events, and although it is often described as being based upon a
Belgian waffle and looks like a
hot dog roll smothered in caramel, cream, ice cream, chocolate, or fudge sauce, there is every likelihood that varieties exist which are not based upon any waffle-specific treatment and are thus essentially '
long-johns' (that is, hot-dog-roll-shaped doughnuts) covered with the kinds of toppings which are more specific to Fudge Puppies (such as ice cream and fudge sauce) than to non-fudge-puppy doughnuts or waffles.
**
bear claws
**
elephant ears**
yum yums **
frying saucers
**
long johns**
Sopaipilla - a fried dough side dish or dessert popular among Mexican-Americans in the southwest. Sopaipillas puff with air when fried, the finished product resembles a pillow. They are often served with honey, but may also be sprinkled in a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Sopaipillas are characteristic of
New Mexican cuisine.
*
Canada**
Beaver tails
*
Mexico**
Buñuelo (also known as the 'Mexican Fried Cookie') - essentially a round, cookie-shaped doughnut, often shallow fried, rather than deep fried.
*
Fried dough*Rosana G Moriera et al,
Deep Fat Frying: Fundamentals and Applications, ISBN 0834213214
*
Ethnic fried doughs around the world
