Making Khrustyky 101

By Volodymyr Kish

This past weekend, I was asked by a good friend to show her how to make khrustyky. For those not familiar with this delectable Ukrainian treat, khrustyky are light, crispy deep fried strips of dough dusted with icing sugar. They are incredibly addictive and have become a traditional holiday treat in our family. My mother used to make them at Christmas, Easter, and other special feast days and holidays. I have continued to carry on the tradition. My friend wanted to make some on the occasion of the Catholic Easter just past, and I agreed to show her how. I subsequently posted pictures of the process on my Facebook page and got numerous requests for the recipe. So in the interests of passing on the best of Ukrainian traditions, I will describe how these delightful little wonders are made.

I wish I could say that I use my mother’s traditional recipe handed down through the generations. Unfortunately, I cannot make that claim. My mother, like most great Ukrainian cooks, never used recipes. It was all in her head. After I got married, my wife and I used to pester my mother for the recipes of her most popular culinary creations, only to be frustrated time and again. Exact quantities were a foreign notion to the way she cooked. She would add ingredients without measuring; her experience, keen eye and discriminating taste taking the place of measuring cups and spoons. When we would ask how much of a certain ingredient to add, she would answer something like “enough” or “keep adding until the consistency is right.”

When I first undertook to make khrustyky, I started with the essential authority on Ukrainian cuisine, “Traditional Ukrainian Cookery” written by Savella Stechishin many decades ago, and over time, I made my own minor modifications to her recipe. This is what I will convey to you in this column.

One starts by whisking together two whole eggs and three additional egg yolks. To this we add two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of cream, half a teaspoon salt, and two to three tablespoons of your favourite alcoholic potion. Most folks use brandy or rum. I have found by trial and error that the best for this purpose is spiced rum, though almost any kind of liqueur will produce tasty results. Mix all these together with the beaten eggs.

Next, you add one and a half cups of flour and mix it all into a ball of dough. If you are lucky enough to have a mechanical dough mixer, use that, though I prefer the manual approach using a large wooden spoon. Form into a ball, knead the dough on a well-floured surface for several minutes, then cover and let the dough sit and rest for 10-15 minutes. Prior to kneading, make sure to liberally coat your hand with flour, as the dough can be quite sticky at this stage. While the dough is resting, it is usually a good idea to sample some of the rum or brandy that you used in the recipe earlier. It is after all important that the cook be in the proper mood and frame of mind to complete the task at hand successfully.

Next, you take the dough and divide it into two or three pieces. Take each piece in turn and using a well-floured rolling pin, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to as thin as you can get it, preferably no thicker than an eighth of an inch. You should turn over the dough several times during the process, as well as rotating the dough on the surface so that you are not always rolling in the same direction. Cut the dough into one to one and a half inch strips lengthwise, and then cut each strip diagonally into three inch long pieces. Cut a one inch slit in the middle of each piece, take one end of the strip and pull it completely through the slit forming a twist. Do this with each piece.

Heat up some oil for deep frying. You can use a deep frying pan or any large pot filled with an inch and a half to two inches of oil. Sunflower oil works well. Deep fry as much as will fit on the surface of your deep fryer. Deep fry for several minutes until the khrustyky have turned a light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a large cookie sheet covered with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Dust icing sugar on both sides of the khrustyky, and voila – they are done!

Khrustyky are best consumed fresh the day they are made. You can store them for a few days in an air tight container, but they lose their crispiness after a few days. Use caution while consuming, since I have found that once you start eating khrustyky, you usually can’t stop until they are all gone!