Deep-Fried Egg Whites with Red Bean Paste 高力豆沙 (Cantonese: go lik dao sa) or 雪棉豆沙 (xǔe mián dòu shā) is a Manchurian dish from the Northeastern region of China. It was an imperial dish made for royalty, high officials and dignitaries during the Qing Dynasty. Most people consider it to be a Beijing dish. Today, you can order this aristocratic dessert at most Shanghai cuisine restaurants.
I found many different English names for this dish including Fried Egg White Soufflé and Deep-Fried Soufflé. It is quite similar to a soufflé because of its light and airy texture. But I think they’re a little spongier than a soufflé. They’re more like little clouds with a red bean paste filling.
There are various names in Chinese for this dish too. The common Cantonese name, 高力豆沙 is actually not the real name. It's actually 高立豆沙 (gāo lì dòu shā). Phonetically, both names sound the same in Mandarin (they sound slightly different in Cantonese though). The word 高 means tall and the word 立 means to stand. It refers to the state of the egg whites. They’re at the right stiffness when the chopsticks used to beat them can stand tall in the upright position in the stiffened egg whites. Its other names include 高麗豆沙 (gāo lì dòu shā) which seems to be common in Taiwan. 雪棉豆沙 (xǔe mián dòu shā) or 雪衣豆沙 (xǔe yī dòu shā) is more common in Mainland China.
I used to think that this dessert must be very difficult to make because restaurants usually ask that you pre-order them. Rarely can you order them right before you want to eat them. Surprisingly, it was much easier than I thought! Of course, having an electric mixer helps a lot! A logistical problem that restaurants have is that no part of it can be pre-prepped. So, this is not a dessert you want to take to a pot luck.
You can make this dessert fit for royalty using my Deep-Fried Egg Whites with Red Bean Paste 高力豆沙 recipe. Even though it’s an easy recipe, there are some important tips that will help you be successful on the first try.
This dessert was the result of having lots of egg whites left-over when I made my Baked Crispy Tapioca Pudding 脆皮西米焗布甸. If you make Deep-Fried Egg Whites with Red Bean Paste 高力豆沙, consider making that one too!
I highly recommend an infrared thermometer to check the temperature of the oil at an instant. Controlling the temperature of the oil can give you perfect results each time. My mom taught me to use a wooden chopstick to check when oil is ready for cooking. While this method works for some applications, there is still guesswork and luck involved. If you’re interested, check out the one I got from Amazon.
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Deep-Fried Egg Whites with Red Bean Paste 高力豆沙
Ingredients
- 120 g Egg whites (4 eggs)
- 1 tbsp Granulated sugar (for adding to egg whites)
- 1 tbsp Corn starch
- 1 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Icing sugar or granulated sugar (for coating)
- 60 g Red bean paste
- 1 L Oil
Instructions
- Prepare five 12g red bean paste balls, dust with flour and set aside
(My photo is of lotus seed paste) 
- Prepare 120g egg whites (from 4 large eggs) in a mixing bowl and add 1 tbsp sugar.
I tried using store-bought egg whites in a carton but they failed to keep solid after beating to stiff peaks so I do not recommend using those. - Use electric mixer on high speed to mix for 2 minutes or until egg whites are stiff.
You know when they’re done when you can stick a chopstick in it and it doesn’t move 
- Sift 1 tbsp corn starch and 1 tbsp flour together into the egg whites in 2 intervals. Use the electric mixer for approx. 5 seconds per interval to mix together
- Heat oil to between 140˚C to 150˚C or 280˚F to 300˚F.
Try to keep the oil at this temperature so that the egg white balls stay as lightly golden as possible - Place approx. 15g of the egg white mixture in an ice-cream scoop, a ladle or a small bowl. Give it a few taps to get rid of any air pockets
Try to pack it in as much as possible without deflating the egg whites to prevent oil from getting in and creating pockets of oil - Place a red bean paste ball into the centre of the egg white, push it in a bit but not enough to expose it on the outside
- Add another 10g of the egg white mixture to cover the red bean paste entirely
- Smooth out the egg whites and form a ball
- Once the oil reaches 140˚C or 280˚F, gently drop the egg white ball into the oil
- Use a ladle to gently drizzle some oil over the top of the egg white ball so that they will not stick to one another
- Once the egg white ball stiffens a bit, turn it over. Continue turning each ball to get even colouring. Fry for approx. 6-8 minutes, depending on the size of the balls. The balls should be cooked by 4 minutes but cooking it longer will help it keep its shape.
If you’re not fussy about having a round shape then frying for 4 minutes will be enough - Remove from oil and lay them on some kitchen towels to absorb excess oil
- Increase the heat of the oil until you reach 175˚C or 350˚F. Put the balls back into the oil for 1 minute.
This step will help make the balls less greasy and make the outside crispier - Sprinkle with icing sugar or granulated sugar
It’s also common to use coloured granulated sugar. Just put some white granulated sugar in a plastic bag, add a few drops of food colouring and shake it until the colour is even - Serve while hot
I've been looking for a recipe for this!! Thank you