Kkwabaegi ~ Twisted Korean Doughnut

Kkwabaegi, a pretty common street food sold by vendors in Korea, literally put a twist on traditional doughnuts. The dough is rolled into a rope and then twisted together to create the signature shape. After they are fried, the doughnut is simply coated in sugar and cinnamon powder mixture.

These Korean style twisted doughnuts are delicious and fun to make.  With simple ingredients you have on hands, you can easily make them for your family at home. They are best to eat shortly after frying, but you can freeze any leftovers for up to a month.  Thaw the frozen doughnuts at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving or you can warm them in microwave for 10 seconds in high power just before eating.  They will taste just as great as freshly made doughnut.

Kkwabaegi ~ Twisted Korean Doughnut (adapted from Maangchi)

For recipe in Indonesian click HERE 

Ingredients:

·         3 cups all-purpose flour

·         45 grams butter

·         7 grams active dry yeast

·         1 cup milk

·         1 egg

·         2 tablespoons white sugar (plus 3 tablespoons for dusting)

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

·         Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1.       Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and add milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well until all are dissolved. Add an egg and mix well.

2.       Transfer to a large bowl. Add 3 cups of flour and active yeast.  Mix well with a wooden spoon. Attach a dough hook of your mixer and knead the dough for at least 15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.  Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise for about 1 hour in a slightly warm place until it doubles in size.

3.       Deflate the gas with your hand and knead for few minutes. Divide the dough into 16 equal sizes (about 40 grams each). Round to make a ball.

4.       Roll a ball of the dough out to about 10 inches length and ½ inch in diameter.  While you are rolling it, twist each end in the opposite directions so that the dough will become twisted when you release the tension. Take the dough off the board, hold it aloft, and bring the ends together. The tension in the dough will twist it as it hangs. You can add as much tension as you like, but the best looking kkwabaegi has 3-4 twists in it.

5.       Set it aside for about 20 minutes to rise again. 10 minutes in, gently flip each doughnut with your hands so the bottoms don’t get flat and all sides rise nice and round.

6.       Meanwhile, heat the oil on medium-high. When you drop a piece of doughnut  in the oil and it rises in about 2 seconds, the temperature of the oil is right.  Fry the doughnuts until golden brown then flip it over once.  If you flip it often, the doughnut will become too greasy.

7.       Strain the fried doughnuts. Put them in a plastic bag with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Shake a few times until they are evenly coated. This is best done when the doughnuts are still warm.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         3 cups tepung terigu serbaguna

·         45 gram mentega

·         7 gram ragi aktif instan

·         1 cup susu cair

·         1 butir telur

·         2 sdm gula pasir (plu2 3 sdm untuk taburan)

·         ½ sdt garam

·         ½ sdt bubuk kayumanis

·         Minyak sayur untuk menggoreng

Cara:

1.       Lelehkan mentega dalam panci kecil. Tambahkan susu, gula, dan garam. Aduk sampai larut. Tambahkan telur dan aduk sampai bercampur.

2.       Pindahkan ke dalam mangkuk besar (atau mangkuk mikser).  Tambahkan 3 cup tepung terigu dan ragi.  Aduk dengan spatula kayu hingga bercampur.  Pasang dough hook pada mikser dan nyalakan (uleni) selama sedikitnya 15 menit sampai kalis dan elastis. Anda juga dapat menguleninya dengan tangan.  Bulatkan adonan dan tutup dengan plastic wrap. Biarkan mengembang sampai dua kali lipat selama sekitar 1-1.5 jam.

3.       Kempiskan adonan dan uleni sebentar. Bagi adonan menjadi 16 bagian sama besar (sekitar 40 gram setiap bagian). Bulatkan masing-masing adonan.

4.       Menggunakan kedua telapak tangan Anda, gulung adonan membentuk gulungan tipis sepanjang 10 inch dengan diameter sekitar ½ inch. Gulung ujungnya dengan arah yang berlawanan sehingga adonan seperti dipelintir. Angkat dan rekatkan kedua ujungnya, adonan akan dengan sendirinya melintir (twisted). Anda dapat membuat ‘pelintiran’/uliran sebanyak yang Anda suka, tetapi Kkwabaegi biasanya memiliki 3-4 uliran.

5.       Diamkan selama sekitar 20 menit agar adonan mengembang.  Pada 10 menit pertama, balik setiap adonan donat agar bagian bawah tidak pipih dan donat mengembang sempurna.

6.       Panaskan minyak dengan api sedang. Temperatur minyak dianggap tepat untuk menggoreng donat apabila donat yang kita masukkan ke dalam minyak langsung naik dalam waktu 2 detik. Goreng semua donat sampai berwarna kecoklatan dan balik hanya sekali saja.

7.       Tiriskan donat yang sudah digoreng. Masukkan ke dalam kantong plastik yang berisi campuran gula dan bubuk kayumanis.  Kocok hingga permukaan donat tertutup gula. Sajikan selagi hangat.