French Crullers and Date Night
After a week of reheated soup dinners, an emergency room visit due to a migraine, and my truck staying in the shop for two days, we ended the week by making a lovely dinner. While My Pirate chopped up a green papaya salad, I whipped up my very first batch of French Crullers to serve alongside Thai coconut custard. This combination was inspired by our recent breakfast at Sen Yai Noodle House.
Sen Yai, Andy Ricker’s new(ish) noodle house in S.E Portland is just up the road from his famous Pok Pok. I was fascinated with my savory rice porridge complete with a poached egg that My Pirate kept ‘sampling’. Mmm-hmmm. But I fell in love with the fried savory crullers (Patangko) that you dip into rich coconut custard called Sanghkaya. I made a mental note to figure out my own version.
I was happy to discover that French Crullers are simply fried or baked choux pastry dough that you use to make cream puffs. I’ve been baking cream puffs since I was in middle school, and know the recipe by heart. So, while I mixed up my choux pastry dough, I heated up two inches of vegetable oil in my cast iron skillet until it reached 370 degrees. Then I fried my crullers for two to three minutes on each side. It was so much easier than I expected.
And the results! These French Crullers were simply the best donut that I’ve ever eaten. Seriously. Hands down. But, pairing the warm crisp cruller with the cold rich custard was simply brilliant. Well played, Sen Yai, well played!
