Bunuelos (fried dough or doughnuts)

This is one of our favorite snacks. I got it from a Chinese cookbook, and while the photos in the cookbook reminded me of buchi-buchi (?), the taste is very much like fried dough. Here in Maine, fried dough is a very popular item sold by food vendors in carnivals/fairs. But I made mine pretty much like doughnuts, and shared some with my in-laws. They called it fried doughnuts. It easily became a favorite snack/dessert item in our house, and you can serve it to American visitors as well, guaranteed to be a big hit, especially when they dread/expect you to come up with "exotic" Filipino dishes.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
oil for frying
cinnamon-sugar for dusting (you can combine 1/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp ground cinnamon)

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, whisk the egg and the milk well together. Gradually stir in the dry mixture, then beat in the melted buter to make a soft dough.

Heat wok. Pour oil about 1 inch deep and let heat at #6 setting for about 1 minute. (You may use a deep-fryer).

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until it is smooth and elastic. Shape to make a log then pinch off golf-ball sizes, flatten with your hands into disks. Poke a hole through the center of each disk using floured handle of wooden spoon (make the hole wider by swirling the dough around the handle).

Fry in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, until they are puffy and golden brown on both sides. Lift out with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

I like pouring melted butter, and sprinkling confectioner's sugar or cinnamon-sugar, then I pour maple syrup. Honeyko likes only cinnamon-sugar on them.

Instead of the syrup recipe included in the cookbook, I just use maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar onto these treats.