Cooking Ammonia?

http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/List/cookingammonia

I found a recipe calling for it, then Googled it.
Interesting.
Have any of you used it?







Fried Dough Stick (Yu Tiao)


Ingredients:

300g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp alum
1 tsp soda powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ammonia
200ml water

Method:

1. Filter flour and baking powder, pour alum, soda powder, salt and ammonia into a bowl and add water to mix well. Then, add this mixture to the filtered ingredients and mix till they become a soft dough. Leave for 15 mins.
2. Knead the dough till it has a smooth surface and is springy. Leave for 15 mins and repeat the process 3 times.
3. Let the dough ferment for 4 hours. Place it on a board sprinkled with flour. Using hands with flour on them, knead the dough into a long roll.
4. Cut it into smaller pieces and stack 2 pieces together.
5. Using a thin roller with flour on it, press on the centre part of the stacked dough so that they stick to each other better.
6. Pull lightly to make them a little longer before placing them into hot oil to boil. When frying, remember to flip the dough constantly with long chopsticks so as to ensure even frying.
7. After filtering dry the oil, they are ready for consumption.

I found some old cookie recipes years ago that called for it, but I've never found any baking ammonia to try the recipes out, nor have I tasted the end product.