Classic Chinese Buffet Sugar Donuts
沙翁·(shā wēng)
Sides & Finishers
If you spent any time at a local Chinese buffet, you know the drill. You navigate the sea of savory dishes—the Kung Pao, the Lo Mein—but you always save room for the glorious, golden balls of fried dough sweating under the heat lamps. The beautiful, brilliant secret of this immigrant-invented staple is that nobody's back there making traditional choux pastry for a fifteen-dollar all-you-can-eat gig. They hacked the system, figuring out that deep-frying a cheap tube of generic buttermilk biscuits yields a pillowy, airy sphere that hits the exact same spot. This isn't about being traditionally authentic; it's about honoring the hustle. Make them fresh at home, shimmering with sugar, and they'll taste infinitely better than you remember.
Ingredients
- generic refrigerated buttermilk biscuits1 can
- neutral frying oil3 cup
- granulated white sugar1/2 cup
Method
- 01
Set up a sugar dredging station right next to your stove.
Pour the sugar into a shallow bowl and line a plate with paper towels. You need to move fast once the dough hits the oil.
- 02
Bring two to three inches of oil to exactly 350°F in a wok or heavy Dutch oven.
Oil temperature is everything here. Too hot, and the outside burns before the dense center cooks; too cool, and the dough acts like a sponge for grease. Maintain that sweet spot.
- 03
Roll the cut biscuit pieces briefly between your palms to form smooth, bite-sized balls.
- 04
Fry the dough balls in small batches for about two and a half minutes total, flipping halfway.
Drop five or six into the oil at a time so the temperature doesn't plummet. They will sink, bob to the surface, and puff up beautifully into golden brown spheres.
- 05
Drain the donuts for exactly 15 seconds, then toss them immediately in the sugar.
This is the crucial trick. You want that residual heat and hot surface oil to hit the sugar so it semi-melts into a perfectly sticky, crystalline crust. Serve them piping hot.
Notes
Buy the cheapest biscuits you can find.
Avoid the 'Flaky Layers' or 'Grands' varieties at all costs. The flaky layers will separate in the hot oil, absorbing too much grease and falling apart. You want the dense, generic buttermilk dough.