Why do fried dough sticks need refrigeration and proofing?

Fried dough sticks are also constantly improved in the long river of history. I don't know. It's too early. Let's talk about what we know first, because my grandfather is a chef of pasta, whether it's steamed bread or fried dough sticks, he is a good cook. Pasta made in the 1970s and 1980s is also famous in our region. Grandpa said that when they fry fried dough sticks, they usually add three things, one salt, two alum and three alkali. Alum here refers to alum. It is said that fritters are not as soft as these three things. But now people pay attention to hygiene and resist alum. Because alum contains aluminum, it is said that eating too much will make you stupid, so it is basically not used now.

Later, many fried dough sticks were filled with things like fried dough sticks leavening agent and baking powder. Because the fried dough sticks that made this kind of thing look particularly beautiful, they were crisp outside but fluffy inside, so many vendors selling fried dough sticks liked to use them. Another method is to ferment dough with yeast powder and then make fried dough sticks. This method is now recognized as the healthiest fried dough sticks, because it belongs to natural fermentation, but the taste may be slightly worse in all aspects.

In fact, no matter what kind of frying method, many people ignore such a step, which leads to the fritters being neither fluffy nor crisp, especially those cooked by fermentation. The neglected step is to refrigerate and sober up!

Because we wake up at room temperature, the fermenting bacteria in the dough are basically out of control, so the dough is easy to ferment. Although it is very suitable for steaming steamed bread, it is not suitable for frying fried dough sticks. Friends who have made fried dough sticks will find that the dough fermented at room temperature is made into fried dough sticks, which will shrink back after stretching. Refrigerated proofing, that is, low-temperature proofing, at this time, the activity of fermentation bacteria will be greatly reduced, and the ductility of fried dough sticks will not be so strong. When fried in the oil pan, it will expand rapidly, so the fritters will be particularly fluffy. Refrigerated fermentation can also lock the moisture in the dough, so that the fried fritters will be tender.

Another great advantage of refrigerated fermentation is that the fried fritters will not absorb oil particularly and will not be too greasy to eat.