Pilipit
I am sure this is not just a Filipino delicacy as I had tried this from some my South African friends who brought it for some pot luck snacks, they call it Twisted Sisters, back home this is called Pilipit, Pinisi, Linubid or Siakoy but regardless of how it’s called they are almost all similar.
Pilipit basically is a deep fried twisted pastry which is coated with sugar or syrup, it can be made with either regular flour or rice flour. Two versions differ heavily on texture as the rice variant tends to be soft and sticky while the flour usually is crunchy but can be stored longer. Pilipit name came from the same Tagalog word which means twisted as you can see from its shape. Other names like the Pinisi or Linubid means different as they came from the root word “lubid” or “pisi” which means rope, I guess you can see why that is the case as well.
Today I am posting the flour version which my wife prepared earlier for our afternoon tea, it’s a really simple snack that packs a lot of energy, perfect for a quick snack or for the kids who plays all day long.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- oil
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup water
- In a bowl sift together flour and salt.
- In a separate bowl combine evaporated milk and egg
- Gently pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, mix then knead until dough is smooth. Form into a round dough then place it back into the bowl. Cover bowl with damp cloth then let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Remove your dough from the bowl, cut dough equally in half. Flatten one of the dough into 8 inch width then cut into ½ inch strips, roll this strip to further slim it down to desired size. Bring end together then twist. Place twisted dough in a floured flat surface. Repeat the whole process with the remaining dough. Let it rest for 20-30 more minutes.
- Prepare a deep fryer or wok filled with oil, Heat oil to 180C then deep fry prepared dough until golden brown.
- Set it aside and let it drain to remove excess oil.
- Prepare the glaze by combining sugar and water in a small saucepan, cook in medium heat until sugar has totally melted.
- Dip fried pastry into the glaze then let it dry by placing it on a wire rack.
We have this here too, a Chinese teatime snack. I’ve never bought any to try though, dunno why.
Amazing looking sweet snack, I have seen similar too but I am curious about the rice flour version now.
Oh, my. You are always tempting me with something I haven’t exactly seen before.
*Koeksisters 🙂 Love to see this here! My gran always reminds me that it is critically important is that your syrup be kept at an ice cold temperature when dipping, since a warmer dip will lead to a soggy koeksister, that being said, its one of those recipes where everyone has their own special trick. I like adding a bit of lemon juice to my syrup.
Sound like my South African boss before they make sure the syrup was the important part