Uscățele, Romanian fried pastries

Name: Uscățele, Romanian fried pastries
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 1 g salt; 500 g flour; 500 ml sunflower oil; 60 g icing sugar

Dessert - Uscățele, Romanian fried pastries by Valeria A. - Recipia

Uscățele, Romanian fried pastries, are rolled out very thin and fried quickly, until golden and crisp at the edges. The egg-and-flour dough is cut into diamonds and twisted into bows, then the icing sugar sticks to them while they’re warm, forming a fine layer of sweetness. I eat them with black tea, without sugar in my cup. Prep: 30 minutes. Cook: 16 minutes. Total time: 46 minutes. Servings: 8. About 340 kcal and 9 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 g salt
500 g flour
500 ml sunflower oil
60 g icing sugar

Preparation

1. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt. Gradually add the flour and knead for about 8 minutes, until the dough is pliable and no longer sticks to your hands. 2. Roll the dough out into a thin sheet. First cut it into strips lengthwise, then diagonally, to make diamonds. Make a slit in the middle of each one, pass one end through it and pull it through to the other side. 3. Heat the oil for 4 minutes, until it reaches 170°C. 4. Fry the pieces in batches, turning them once, for 12 minutes in total, until golden on both sides. 5. Transfer them to paper towels, then toss them in icing sugar while they’re warm.

Notes

I serve them with a glass of milk. Every summer, in the countryside with the children, I fondly remember my grandmother, her advice, warmth and wisdom, and my childhood, when we waited by the basin and rushed for her uscățele. Flour milled at a mill behaves differently from store-bought flour, and eggs of different sizes change how much flour the dough absorbs. The dough contains gluten and egg. Once cool, keep them in a closed container for no more than 3 days; dust only the portion you’re serving, so the sugar doesn’t get damp. Fry a few pieces at a time, so the oil doesn’t lose its heat too quickly. For 8 servings, start the dough 30 minutes before serving.