The best thing about going to an Asian grocery store is seeing what kinds of snacks they have for sale at the checkout lane, or right when you walk in the door. Sometimes I get so side tracked, I forget what I came for in the first place 🤣. One of my favorite snack is called bánh tiêu (Vietnamese donut).
What is bánh tiêu (Vietnamese donut)?
Bánh tiêu is a slightly sweetened deep fried dough that has been sprinkled with sesame seeds. Some people refer to it as the Vietnamese donut, others just call it Vietnamese fried dough.
How is Vietnamese donut different than American donut?
As you know, every culture has a recipe for fried dough. So I would venture to say that it is a “universal food”. In Vietnam, we call our fried dough or donut bánh tiêu. These Vietnamese donuts are not like the American donuts.
When you think of American donuts, you think of either cake or yeast donuts. They are either topped with some kind of icing or generously sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. To me, they can be overly sweet. However, the Vietnamese donuts or bánh tiêu is different. Vietnamese donuts are deep fried, slightly sweetened dough with sesame seeds. I didn’t have enough sesame seeds so some of the donuts didn’t get any 😂. But regardless, it still tastes good. As the dough fries, it expands to give the Vietnamese donut a hollow appearance. They are served as is…no additional icing or sprinkles needed.
How to make Vietnamese donuts?
The yeast
I used to be terrified of making dough…any type of dough, until I realized it’s all about the yeast. The main thing is to not kill the yeast with high temperature water. So now, I always measure the water temperature (between 105oF and 115oF) using a thermometer before adding in the yeast and sugar. After yeast, water, and sugar are combined, I let the solution sit for 15 minutes. This process is called proofing. As the solution sits, it will turn into a creamy looking mixture with tiny bubbles on top. This is what you’re looking for and means the yeast is working.
The kneading and adjustments
The hard part is over after proofing the yeast. Now it’s just a matter of combining the yeast solution, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder in a stand mixer, equipped with a dough hook and turn it on. Let the stand mixer do the kneading for you. What can I say? Work smarter, not harder 🤣. If the dough looks dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time. Likewise, if the dough looks too wet, add a teaspoon of flour at a time. What you want is to be able to easily pull the dough away from the sides of the bowl without it sticking to your hands.
Rest & rise
I’d say the most time consuming part of this process is allowing enough time for the dough to rest, just enough so it doubles in size. So what I’ll do is make the dough in the morning, go about my day and check back right before dinner.
Roll & fry
Now that the dough has time to rest & rise, they are ready for the fryer. A couple of tips I learned to make the Vietnamese donut nice and hollow.
- Roll the dough out as flat as possible. The flatter the dough is, the more hollow the donut will be.
- Make sure the oil temperature is at least 350oF. If the oil is not hot enough, the dough will soak up all the oil during the frying process and you’ll end up with an oily Vietnamese donut.
How to store left over Vietnamese donuts?
Any left over donuts can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature. It can be eaten as is the next day. Or if you prefer, heat them up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Bánh Tiêu (Vietnamese Donut)
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with dough hook
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water plus 2 tsp water 105oF to 110oF
- 2¼ tsp dry yeast
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour plus 2 TBSP for kneading process.
- ½ cup sugar more if you want a sweeter donut.
- ¼ cup white sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
Instructions for proofing the yeast:
- Microwave the water until the temperature reaches 105oF-110oF.
- Add ½ teaspoon of sugar then 2¼ teaspoon of dry yeast. Mix well and let the solution sit for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you're seeing bubbles develops as it sits. If not, you'll have to start this proofing process over.
Instructions for making & kneading the dough:
- Combine baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, flour, ½ cup sugar, sesame seeds and yeast solution in a stand mixer bowl equipped with a dough hook. Turn the stand mixer on and let it knead until all ingredients are well combined.
- As the dough is kneading, check and adjust if it is too wet (add 2 TBSP flour) or too dry (add 2 tsp water).
- The dough should easily pull away from the bowl without it sticking to your hands.
- Place a small amount of vegetable oil in a clean bowl and spread it around.
- Form the dough into a ball then place it in the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with saran plastic wrap and let it rest and double in size in a warm place.
Instructions for rolling the dough:
- After the dough has time to rest and rise, pinch off a desired amount of dough then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. I've found that the flatter the dough is, the more hollow the donut becomes during frying.
Instructions for frying the dough:
- Fill a deep pot ½ full with vegetable oil and heat the oil to 350oF.
- Gently place the rolled out dough in the hot oil. The dough will puff up as it fries. As soon as it stops puffing up, flip the dough over to fry the other side.
- Remove the dough from the oil as soon as it turns golden brown. Let the fried donut rest on a rack to remove any excess oil & enjoy.
So the next time you’re craving donuts, whip up a batch of these Vietnamese donuts & enjoy it with a nice cup of Vietnamese coffee (recipe to follow). Looking for more homemade dough recipes? Click here.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try them.
It’s one of Charles’ favorite. He loves it.