*And that was from a restaurant out in Flushing, Queens, called "Northeast Taste Cuisine" - or something like that. They just got a nice mention in the New York Times in an article covering food from the Dongbei region of China.
The fried dough - which is like a pâte choux dough - is stir-fried(?) in a wok with a generous sprinkling of granulated sugar. The sugar eventually melts and caramelizes. The dish is then brought to your table along with a bowl of ice cold water. You take a piece of the caramel-coated dough, dip it into the cold water, and... The sugar coating becomes crackly and crispy, while the dough remains hot and doughnut-like. DEE-LISH!!! There's also a version of this done with battered and coated pieces of apple, sweet potato and/or taro root.