Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons rice wine, sake, or dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon dark (Asian-style) sesame oil (optional)
• 1 to 4 teaspoons water, as needed
• Corn or peanut oil for deep-frying
• Toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Combine the honey and water in a shallow
2. saucepan. Cook over low heat until it comes to a boil; stir. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Mix flour and sugar. Stir in rice wine and
4. sesame oil, adding water as necessary to make a fairly soft, workable dough.
5. Knead for 2 or 3 minutes, until smooth and pliable. Dough will be slightly
6. sticky.
7. On a lightly floured board or pastry cloth, roll
8. dough out to a rectangle between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges, then with
9. a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into rectangles about 3/4 to 1 inch
10. wide and 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. Cut a lengthwise slit 3/4 to 1 inch long in
11. the center of each rectangle. Pull one end of the dough through the slit to
12. make a kind of keyhole or bow shape.
13. In a heavy skillet or saucepan, heat about 1
14. inch of oil to 375 degrees F. Deep-fry the cookies, a few at a time, turning
15. once, until they are a nice golden brown. Remove to paper towels with a slotted
16. spoon. After a brief draining--cookies should still be warm--drop the hot
17. cookies into the honey mixture, turning to coat. Let them stand in the honey
18. for at least 5 minutes. Remove from the honey with a fork and place on a waxed
19. paper-lined plate. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.