Poi Doughnuts — Modern Hawaiian

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 60 g caster sugar
• 5 g fine salt
• 200 g poi, fresh fermented taro paste; not over-sour
• 2 eggs
• 120 ml whole milk, warmed
• 60 g unsalted butter, softened
• For frying
• 2 l neutral oil, such as canola; sufficient depth for submersion
• For the glaze
• 200 g icing sugar, sifted
• 60 ml whole milk

Method

1. 1
   Combine flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs, warmed milk, and poi. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then incorporate the softened butter. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic and pulls cleanly from the bowl wall.
2. 2
   Cover the dough and leave it to prove at room temperature until doubled in volume. The dough should hold a fingertip impression without springing back fully.
3. 3
   Turn the proved dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll to approximately 2 cm thickness. Cut rounds with a doughnut cutter. Transfer to a lined tray and leave to prove a second time until visibly puffed and the surface appears matte rather than tight.
4. 4
   Heat the oil to 175 °C. Fry the doughnuts in batches, turning once, until each side is deep golden and the doughnut floats high in the oil — this is where the dish lives or dies: underfrying leaves the interior gummy and the poi flavour raw, while overfrying destroys the moisture the poi is there to provide.
5. 5
   Lift the doughnuts from the oil and drain briefly on a rack. While still warm, whisk icing sugar and milk to a fluid glaze and dip the top of each doughnut. The glaze should set to a faintly opaque finish with a gentle sheen.