ZhaLiang 炸兩 (carb heaven) | Recipe

Carbs wrapped in carbs, like my name was Lil Gluten. Zha liang is a typical dish found at Cantonese dim sum made with you tiao (fried dough) and cheung fun (rice noodle sheets)--- you see why you can't go wrong with this recipe. It's everything you could ever want in carb heaven.

Ok, first of all you tiao is fucking bomb, it's a Chinese fried dough that is golden-brown, with a crispy outside that is lightly salted and a soft doughy interior. It's pretty salty on it's own, similar to a breadstick (a v chewy one).

You tiao is eaten with all types of things, you can throw it in congee, or dip it in condensed milk. In Taiwan, we would dip it in soybean milk for breakfast with my horde of cousins in the deep sweating summers of July (recommended to not visit Taiwan in July if you can help it, your hair will do weird things you didn't know were possible). Jeromy on the other hand, got to experience the luxuries of eating this carb heaven all the time growing up at dim sum with his family.

Once you marry the two carbs together and create the masterpiece of zha liang, dip it in the sweet soy sauce it's GAME OVER. The sweet soy sauce is key, it balances out the salt + oil from the you tiao package. Plus the dish is bomb ass comfort food and if you're hungover it will soak up all your alcohol (not 100% proven).

CARBS:

rice noodle sheets - you can find these at an Asian grocery
you tiao 油条/ crullers - also find these at an Asian store

SAUCE:

2 tbsp water
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
sesame seeds and cilantro or scallions to top with

1. Cook yo carbs: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees for your oil sticks. These babies comes in pairs, so you'll want to tear them in half (you'll see the crease in the dough) so your zha liang is not aggressively bready. Pop these babies in the oven for a couple of minutes.

2. Warm your carbs: For your rice noodle sheets, you have two options:
- Microwave them for 2 minutes with a wet paper towel (so they don't dry out).
- Steam in a rice cooker / steamer for 10 minutes
Once you've chosen your method of warming, let your rice noodles cool (or at least until you can touch them without burning a finger), and begin to unravel the sheets with chopsticks or your fingers. Be SUPER careful and gentle, this sheets can tear easily, so don't go rambo on them.

3. Marry your carbs: Once you have successfully unrolled your rice noodle sheets, take your you tiao and put it on top of the sheet and roll it up until the you tiao is covered in a single layer of rice noodle. If you want, you can add dried chopped shrimp, fried garlic, or cilantro inside as well.

4. Dip your carb: The sweet soy sauce is key to this carb heaven, it is a nice sweet balance against the saltiness & oil from the you tiao. Heat up water and sugar in a sauce pan on medium until the sugar dissolves, add in additional sauce ingredients. If you just use regular soy sauce, your finished dish will be pretty salty so we recommend the sweet soy sauce over regular soy. You can top your finished zha liang with scallions / cilantro, and sesame seeds.

*Note: I love this dish, but only make enough that you + any of your pals will eat. It does not taste good reheated, everything gets soggy and gross.

Gluten Forever x,

Ewa