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PREPARE AHEAD:
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1. Pour the 1 cup of flour into a good-sized bowl and then, little by little, pour the beaten egg and water mixture into the flour, stirring constantly with a large spoon. Stir until you have formed a fairly smooth batter.
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2. With a small, sharp knife, cut the apples into quarters. Peel off the skin and cut away the cores. Then cut the quarters into eighths.
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3. Arrange your ingredients-the batter, the apples, the oil, the sugar, the water and the sesame seeds-within easy reach and set out a large serving plate lightly greased with oil and a large bowl containing one quart of water plus a dozen ice cubes.
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TO COOK:
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1. In a 2- to 3-quart saucepan, heat the 3 cups of oil until a haze forms above it or it reaches a temperature of 375°F on a deep-frying thermometer.
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2. At the same time, in a 12-inch wok or 10-inch skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of oil with the sugar and water. Bring the sugar and water to a boil over high heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves.
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3. Cook this mixture briskly without stirring until the syrup registers 300°F on a candy thermometer or reaches the hard crack stage; that is to say, when a very small amount of the syrup dropped into ice water instantly forms a hard mass. Stir in the black sesame seeds and turn the heat down to its lowest point.
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4. Now proceed to make the spun apples in the following fashion: Drop 8 of the apple wedges into the batter, stirring them about to coat them thoroughly.
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5. With chopsticks, tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the wedges to the heated oil and deep-fry them for 1 minute, or until they turn light amber.
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6. Immediately, lift them out of the oil and put them into the skillet of hot syrup. Stir the wedges to coat them thoroughly with syrup, then still using chopsticks, tongs or a slotted spoon-drop them one at a time into the bowl of ice water.
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7. The syrup coating will harden instantly and enclose each piece of apple in a clear, brilliant glaze. Transfer the finished spun apples to the lightly greased serving plate and make the second batch in precisely the same manner.
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8. Serve the spun apples as soon as you possibly can. The delicate candy glaze will soften if they are allowed to stand for long.
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