Sātā Andāgī (Okinawan Sugar Doughnuts, Hawaiʻi Local Style)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot or Dutch oven for frying
• •Deep-fry thermometer
• •Small 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop
• •Wire rack or brown paper bag for draining

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix dry bowl

   Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and mochiko if using in a wide bowl. Break up the sugar lumps now, because once the wet goes in, you don't want to work the dough too hard.

2. 2

   Stir wet bowl

   Beat the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla until smooth and glossy. This is everyday pantry food, the kind that shows up because auntie had eggs, flour, sugar, and a reason to feed people.

3. 3

   Make the dough

   Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until no dry flour shows. The dough should be thick, sticky, and scoopable, closer to soft cookie dough than pourable batter. If you beat it smooth, the andagi turns tough. No need fight it.

4. 4

   Heat the oil

   Pour 2 to 3 inches of neutral oil into a heavy pot and heat to 325F. Keep the oil steady between 315F and 335F so the outside crisps while the middle cooks through. Too hot and you get a pretty shell with raw heart. Nobody wants that.

   A thermometer helps, but your eyes help too. A small bit of dough should sink, rise slowly, and bubble steady, not race dark in thirty seconds.
5. 5

   Fry in batches

   Use a small scoop or two spoons to drop walnut-size balls of dough into the oil, 5 or 6 at a time. Let them roll and turn on their own, nudging only when needed, until they split open at the top and turn deep golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes.

6. 6

   Drain and share

   Lift the andagi to a rack or paper bag and let the surface settle crisp. Eat warm, when the edges have bite and the center is dense-cakey, or pack them room temperature for the potluck. That's how they travel best.

Chef Tips

• •Keep the oil lower than you think. Andagi is thick, so it needs time for the middle to cook before the outside gets too dark.
• •If the dough sticks to the scoop, dip the scoop lightly in oil between batches. Don't add extra flour unless the dough is running loose.
• •Andagi is best the day it's fried, but the next morning with coffee, no shame. Warm it briefly in a toaster oven to wake up the crisp edges.

Advance Preparation

• •Mix the dry ingredients up to 1 week ahead and keep them covered in the pantry.
• •Fry the andagi the same day you plan to serve them. The dough can rest covered at room temperature for 20 minutes, but don't hold it for hours once the baking powder is wet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 45g)