Hui Fried Flatbread 油香

Hui Fried Flatbread (油香) is the Hui name for a round fried flatbread, known more generally as youbing (油饼). In Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture (临夏回族自治州), China Linxia Net (中国临夏网) carries a description under the title Kangle youxiang (康乐油香), after Kangle County (康乐县), and Muslim families in Linxia fry it at home for Eid al-Fitr (开斋节).

How it is made

Chinese Wikipedia lists flour, salt, alkali and vegetable oil as the ingredients. In the Linxia account, the dough is pinched off by hand or cut into small pieces, and each is rolled into a round about 10 to 15 centimetres across and about 1 centimetre thick. The rounds go into hot oil, are turned once they start to colour, and come out when both sides have puffed up and turned golden brown.

Wikipedia notes versions made with leavened dough or scalded dough, plain or sweet, and describes two or three knife cuts made through the middle of each round before frying, with an older, experienced person usually put in charge of the pan.

How it is eaten

The Linxia account says that in some places Hui people hold the flatbread top side up and break it into pieces rather than biting into it, while in most places it is simply torn in two by hand and then eaten.

During Eid al-Fitr, according to Linxia Minzu Daily, Muslim families in the prefecture fry youxiang, make sanzi (馓子) fried dough twists and boil mutton to serve visiting guests or to give to poorer households nearby. Wikipedia adds that Hui families fry youxiang for festivals, weddings and funerals and in memory of ancestors.