Fried sugar egg puffs 炸莎翁 (zhà shā wēng or 冰花蛋球 bīng hūa dàn qíu) is a Cantonese sweet snack from Ming Dynasty Guangdong province. The Cantonese pronunciation is “sa yong” , which is it’s original name, written as 莎壅 (shā yōng). Over the years, the character “壅”changed to its current character, 翁 (wēng), but the Cantonese pronunciation has not changed. In English, I've seen people call this a Chinese donut. Some call the long savory dough stick (油條 yóu tíao) a Chinese donut too, which is so confusing. I’m so glad I got this off my chest!
Fried sugar egg puffs 炸莎翁 was very popular in early Hong Kong colonial days up until the 1990’s. Most restaurants and bakeries today, even in Hong Kong, don't make them fried anymore. They take around 20 minutes to deep fry so it’s not an economically viable product to sell. It’s quite unfortunate that they're a rare commodity now because these egg puffs are crispy on the outside and moist and airy on the inside. They’re kind of like a cross between a choux pastry and a French cruller but with granulated sugar covering the outside. They are also delicious when you roll them in cinnamon sugar instead of plain white sugar.
I have tested this recipe over a dozen times. I even tried adding some glutinous rice flour just so I could add one of it’s original ingredients. But I couldn't get the texture right. I also couldn’t figure out why my puffs kept deflating after frying. I’ve figured it all out now. I’ll show you in my recipe how you can do it successfully the first time round.
If you’re craving this delicious blast from the past, you’ll probably have to make the Fried Sugar Egg Puffs 炸莎翁 yourself. It’s an easy dessert or snack to make as long as you have the time to fry each batch at a low temperature for 20 minutes. Serve them in cupcake liners to make them extra fancy!
If you like to deep-fry once in a while, consider getting a digital thermometer. I can now accurately determine the temperature of the oil before putting my food into it. Now, it’s so easy to get perfect results each time. No more guessing when the oil is ready. If you’re interested, check out the one I got from Amazon.
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Fried Sugar Egg Puffs 炸莎翁
Ingredients
- 100 g Bread Flour
- 70 g Butter
- 100 ml Water
- 3 Large eggs
- 3 tbsp* Sugar
for covering the egg puff - 500-1000 ml Oil for deep frying amount of oil depends on the size of your pot
Instructions
- Pour the water into a pot. Add 70 g butter. Heat until mixture comes to a boil
- Turn off heat. Add flour and stir until mixture forms a ball around your mixing tool
- Transfer mixture into a mixing bowl
- Add one egg, mix until it is completely blended into the mixture. Repeat for the remaining 2 eggs
- Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes
- Heat oil to 130˚C or 266˚F
If the oil is higher than 140˚C or 284˚F, you may end up with the puff being too dark or undercooked, resulting in deflating of the egg puff - Use an ice-cream scoop or 2 large spoons to create a ball-shaped batter and drop it into the oil
be sure not to overcrowd the puffs as they will expand in size - Turn the puffs frequently for even cooking
- Puffs should be cooked for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oil
Undercooking will cause puffs to deflate after you take them out of the oil - Add 3 tbsp of sugar into a paper or plastic bag, put the puffs in the bag, inflate and close the bag and shake until the puffs are covered with sugar. Or simply sprinkle the sugar onto the surface of the puff
Just tried your recipe and its perfect. Just like i remember! Tried other recipes and even though similar, they didn’t turn out right
Hi Joe, I'm so happy that you tried my recipe! And also that it came out perfectly! Coincidentally, I just made a batch for my mom last week. It's her favourite. Most recipes that I encountered don't emphasize the importance of the temperature of the oil and the amount of time it takes to cook it. I've ended up with deflated batches. Then some recipes would have you add baking powder or baking soda, but then the taste is different. Low and slow is the key to this recipe! Thanks for sharing and happy cooking!
Did you actually fry for 20 min?
Hi Mi mi, I do fry them on average for 20 minutes. Sometimes if the temperature is a bit higher because I’m frying a small batch, the time could be approx 15 minutes. You will know that they’re done by looking at the color and when they’ve stopped expanding. If you take them out too early, they will deflate. Cooking them a few more minutes after they’ve finished expanding allows the outside to harden up to hold its shape. Happy cooking!
So many thanks for this recipe, I cant make them fast enough, my wife eats them faster!. They have turned out perfectly once I mastered temperature control.
Hi Justin, those look perfect!
My family and friends love them too. I fry them in a wok now so I can make a double batch each time. Maybe you can ramp up your production to meet your demand….happy wife, happy life! Thanks for trying my recipe! Happy cooking 😀
Is that 143 grams of fat per puff?
It's the total fat for the whole batch.
Amazing recipe! Thank you so much. My kids loved it and all the other recipes I’ve made from you. Love your food 😊
Hi Jenny, I'm so happy to hear they turned out well for you! Thanks for trying out my recipes, I'm working on lots of new recipes so stay tuned! Happy cooking 🙂
Is this still good the next day?
Hi Jenny,
My friends tell me they’re still good, but I don’t think they’re that good. Kind of like leftover donuts.
Deep fried foods typically do not spoil easily so they should be safe to eat the next day.
Happy Cooking!
Emily
Hi Auntie Emily,
Does this work with air fryer?
Hi Dawn, I've never tried putting it into the air fryer because I don't think it'd work. The batter is similar to pancakes so when you put it in the air fryer, it would flatten. Since it's flat, less air will need to escape so you wouldn't get many air pockets inside. I think this one will only work when you deep-fry them in oil. Happy cooking!
Hi, mine were too runny to shape into any ball, even with an ice cream scoop. They cam out flat on one side. What did I do wrong? Thanks.
Hi Eddie, sometimes measuring cups may be wrong. I think next time, try weighing the water to 100g instead of using a measuring cup. Also, it could be that each egg was not totally incorporated before you added the next. You can compare your dough to the one in the photo so if after the first step, the consistency is still too watery, add more flour into the pot. But make sure the new flour also cooks. Coming out flat on one side could mean that your oil was too hot when you put it in the oil. The oil hardened the outside before it could puff up. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy cooking!
Mine also came out flat on one side - the batter is much too runny. Still ate them, of course, but very unsatisfying.
Hi NotADonut, I'm sorry to hear that your Egg Puffs did not turn out. Before you blame the recipe, are you sure you followed the instructions? This is one of my most popular recipes. I personally have used it over 50 times and every time it comes out perfectly. But you have to follow the temperature and time guides. It took me a long time to get it right, but when I got it right, they always turned out. You said the batter was too runny, did your batter look like the consistency in the photos? Were you able to get it onto an ice cream scoop? If you don't want to cook them for 20 minutes, you can try this...deep fry for 5 minutes at 325ºF then remove the egg puffs. Heat oil to 400ºF and fry them until golden which should take around 30 seconds. Remember that the temperature and the time are very important factors to making these egg puffs. By the way, I have worked very hard to make each recipe and I do not appreciate the one star because you did not follow instructions. Nonetheless, happy cooking!