All cultures claim complete uniqueness when it comes to the things they eat. Such is the feeling we Spanish people have about our beloved churros.
So what a surprise to find morning churrerias that spring up early at dawn to provide a breakfast of churros to the Chinese!
Granted Chinese eating churro or you tiao is vastly different from the Spanish one.
While we eat them with hot chocolate, or dipped in granulated sugar with a café con leche, the Chinese eat them with sweetened soy milk and hot and sour soup or congee (rice porridge).
It is something that is done in a bit of a haste before running to work while in Spain it is more of weekend leisure activity.
One day I went to a morning market to see how they make you tiao. The process is fairly labor intensive; they use a baking powder, sugar, peanut oil, alkaline water and a host of other ingredients that are secretly guarded by street vendors. The dough is kneaded and rested several times. After, they cut the dough into strips. Using a chopstick or the flat back of a knife, they make a gutter in the middle of each strip hence it looks like two breadsticks stuck together.
Finally it is fried in peanut oil and served.
The end result is light, fluffly and crispy.
6 replies on “Chinese Churros”
Very interesting, Blanca! How does the taste compare to the traditional Spanish Churros? Is it a common meal in China? Would it be a snack or a dessert? Great pics, by the way!
Katya both in Spain and China they are breakfast food. In Spain if you go out partying you might end up at 5 a.m. in a churreria. The flavor is very different. I think the oil makes the Churros in Spain creamier on the inside. The diameter is much smaller than Chinese so the crunch factor is bigger since there is not so much air. Thanks for your comment about the photos.
This is great breakfast food! I tried some when I lived in Beijing and they were surprisingly tasty. The catch is that most street food gives you major stomach problems afterward…
I know that is so depressing. The oil they use does not look very nice.
Did they taste similar?
Not really..but that is a good point. The Spanish are fried longer so they seem more tasty to me.