Andagi

Andagi are sweet deep fried doughnuts that were originally made in Okinawa.  It is very popular here as I'm sure many of us here in Hawaii have heard of.  This is something that is part of my heritage since my ancestors came from the islands of Okinawa.  In Okinawan, andagi means deep-fried ("oil" (anda) + "fried" (agii)).  I've loved eating these sweet treats ever since I was about the age of five when our family would go to the Okinawan festivals.  It was something I would always look forward to eating whenever we would go.  The more traditional way of making andagi is made by mixing sugar, flour, and eggs.  This recipe puts a twist in that it adds brown sugar to get the outside nice and crispy.  This recipe is from my grandma's friend.  Her friend said that it would be crispier than the normal doughnut and she was right.  The outside was golden brown and the inside light and cake like.  I also found that this recipe made the andagi much more flavorful and also a lot lighter. 

Ingredients:

-       4 cup flour

-       4 tsp. baking powder

-       1 cup brown sugar

-       1 cup white sugar

-       ¼ tsp. salt

-       4 eggs

-       ½ cup evaporated or condensed milk

-       ½ cup water
-  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients in a bowl and stir.  Beat together eggs, condensed milk, and water in a different bowl.  Add this egg mixture to sifted dry ingredients, slowly adding 1/3 of the mixture at a time.  Add 1 ½ tsp. vanilla.  Mix well until dry ingredients are moistened and dough is smooth.  Slowly drop ball shaped pieces of dough into hot oil.  Fry until doughnuts rise to the surface and turn golden brown.  Drain the oil on a paper towel lined cooling rack. 

Recipe from: Karen

Notes:

Use two spoons to scoop the dough.  With one spoon scoop the batter against the edge of the bowl, scraping off any excess dough. Now scrape the batter onto the other spoon, making sure there isn't any batter dripping off the bottom of the spoon. This makes it nice and round.  That way, there won't be a 'tail' on the andagi. Drop the batter into the oil, keeping it close to the oil.  I found that using spoons was much easier than dropping them in with your hands.  And it's a lot less messy too.