Ma lao (puffed rice sticks)

Step 1: Mix 10 ½ oz glutinous rice flour with 220 ml of 1 cup water into a dough. Pinch off a 60 g piece and flatten it into a disc.

Step 2: Boil the disc in a small pan of water for 3–4 minutes, until it floats and turns slightly translucent. Lift it out and knead it straight back into the rest of the dough, adding the remaining 1 ½ tbsp water only if needed, until smooth, soft and no longer cracking.

Step 3: Roll out on a dusted surface to 1 cm thick and cut into strips 1.5 cm wide and 6 cm long.

Step 4: Spread the strips on a tray and leave to dry for 2 hours, turning once, until the outside is dry and leathery but the inside still soft; in a damp kitchen dry them in a 122°F oven for 1 hour.

Step 5: Put 6 ¼ cups oil for deep-frying in a wok with a batch of strips while the oil is still barely warm (about 200°F, with only tiny bubbles). Common mistake: dropping them into hot oil; the crust sets at once and they stay small and hard.

Step 6: Fry over a low heat, rolling the strips gently, for 8–10 minutes, as they slowly swell to two or three times their size.

Step 7: Raise the heat to medium and fry for 2–3 minutes more at about 325°F, until crisp, pale gold and hollow-sounding when tapped. Drain on kitchen paper and repeat with the rest, cooling the oil down again before each batch.

Step 8: Warm 3 ½ oz maltose, 1 ¾ oz sugar and 2 tbsp water in a wide pan over a low heat, stirring, for 3–4 minutes, until melted, bubbling and sticky enough to pull a thread.

Step 9: Toss a few puffed sticks at a time in the syrup until coated, then roll them in 2 ⅞ oz white sesame seeds, pressing so it sticks. Leave on a tray for 20 minutes until the coating sets. Keep airtight for up to 1 week.