Youtiao

Youtiao, known in Southern China as yau char kway, is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough of Chinese origin and also popular in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and easily separated by hand. Youtiao are normally eaten at breakfast as an accompaniment for rice congee, soy milk or cow's milk blended with sugar. Youtiao may also be known as a Chinese cruller, Chinese oil stick, Chinese donut , and fried breadstick, among others.
In other Asian countries, they may also be called bicho, you char kway, cakwe, cakoi, kueh, kuay, shakoy or pathongko, among other names.

Culinary applications and variants

At breakfast, youtiao can be stuffed inside shāobǐng to make a sandwich known as shāobǐng yóutiáo. Youtiao wrapped in a rice noodle roll is known as zháliǎng. In Yunnan, a roasted rice flour pancake usually wrapped around a youtiao is known as erkuai. Yet another name for a sandwich variant is jianbingguǒzi.
Youtiao is occasionally dipped into various liquids, for example the soup xidoufen, soy milk, and soy sauce.
Youtiao is also an important ingredient of the food cífàn tuán in Shanghai cuisine.
Tánggāo, or "sugar cake", is a sweet, fried food item similar in appearance to youtiao but shorter in length.
In Thailand, youtiao or pathongko in Thai are eaten for breakfast with soy milk or porridge.
Similarly, in Indonesia youtiao or cakwe in Indonesian can be eaten for breakfast with porridge by chopping it into thin slices. Cakwe stands can also be found in the evening, usually eaten with a special liquid red sauce.

Names

Cambodia

In Cambodia, it is called cha kway and usually dipped in kuy teav, congee or coffee. Some Chinese Cambodian immigrants in Australia sometimes call it chopstick cake because of its resemblance to a pair of chopsticks.

China

Although generally known as yóutiáo in Standard Mandarin, the dish is also known as guǒzi in northern China. In Min Nan-speaking areas, such as Taiwan, it is known as iû-chiā-kóe, where kóe means cake or pastry, hence "oil-fried cake/pastry". In Cantonese-speaking areas this is rendered as yàuh ja gwái, where literally means "Oil-fried devil".

Folk etymology

The Cantonese name 油炸鬼 is, according to folklore, an act of protest against Song dynasty official Qin Hui, who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei, an icon of patriotism in Chinese culture. It is said that the food, originally in the shape of two human-shaped pieces of dough but later evolved into two pieces joined in the middle, represents Qin Hui and his wife, both having a hand in collaborating with the enemy to bring about the great general's demise. Thus the youtiao is deep fried and eaten as if done to the traitorous couple. In Mandarin, the name 油炸燴 from folklore literally means "oil-fried Hui" in protest of his actions. The Cantonese pronunciation yàuh ja gwái rhymes with this Mandarin pronunciation.
In keeping with the legend, youtiao are often made as two foot-long rolls of dough joined along the middle, with one roll representing the husband and the other the wife. The Cantonese name may derive from Guangzhou being the last resistance front before the Song dynasty collapsed.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the fried dough is known as cakwe. It is commonly chopped or thinly sliced and then eaten for breakfast with bubur ayam or eaten as snacks with dipping of local version of chilli vinaigrette or peanut / satay sauce.
In Java, cakwe is usually sold as a street snack at kaki lima, usually at the same stalls that sell bolang-baling or roti goreng and untir-untir. This snack is sometime served with spicy sweet salty sauce. Savory cakwe, sweet bolang-baling and crunchy untir-untir are to be considered to compliment each other in a snack mix.

Laos

In Laos, youtiao is generally called kao nom kou or patongko or "chao quay", and is commonly eaten with coffee at breakfast in place of a baguette. It is also eaten as an accompaniment to "khao piek sen" or "jok".

Malaysia

It is rendered in Malay language as cakoi, an alteration of the Minnan term, char kway. The name pathongko is more common in the northern states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang, kayu khamak or kuduh in Terengganu, kocok in Pahang and Perak and cakuwe in Kelantan. Cakoi is usually sold in morning street markets or night markets and commonly eaten with coffee or soy milk for breakfast or at tea time.

Myanmar

The youtiao is also a popular breakfast food in Myanmar where it is called e kya kway. It is usually eaten with steamed yellow beans or dipped into coffee or tea, or with condensed milk. E kya kway is also eaten with rice porridge, or cut into small rings and used as a condiment for mohinga. Tea culture is prevalent in Myanmar, and almost every shop will serve e kya kway for breakfast.
Some shops stuff meat into the youtiao and deep fry it over again. It is called e kya kway asar thoot – stuffed e kya kway.

Philippines

In the Philippines, it is either known as Bicho / Bicho-Bicho or Shakoy / Siyakoy / Pinisi / lubid-lubid. They are usually deep-fried, in the case of Bicho-Bicho, or deep-fried and twisted, in the case of Shakoy. Dry, smaller and crunchy versions are called pilipit.

Singapore

In Singapore, it is known as yu char kway, which is the transliteration of its Hokkien name. Apart from the plain version, the Singaporean take on Youtiao also comes with various fillings which are either sweet, such as red bean paste or savory, such as sardines in tomato sauce. The plain version is often eaten with sweet chili sauce or coconut and egg jam called kaya, or served with bak kut teh, porridge or rice congee, sliced thinly to be dipped into the broth or congee and eaten.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, Youtiao is often known by its Hokkien name and is a popular breakfast item throughout Taiwan. Youtiao are usually sandwiched into shaobings or cut into sections and wrapped in rice balls, or eaten with almond milk, soy milk, and douhua for breakfast. It is also an essential ingredient for Tainan-style congee and salty soy milk, and it is also an indispensable ingredient for Tainan beef soup and as a side for Taiwanese-style spicy hot pot.

Thailand

In Thailand, youtiao is generally called pathongko due to a confusion with a different kind of dessert. Pathongko is a loanword adapted from either Teochew Minnan beh teung guai or Cantonese of baahktònggòu. However, both possible original names referred to a different dessert, the white sugar sponge cake. It was previously sold together with youtiao by street vendors who normally walked around and shouted both names out loud. However, Thai customers often mistakenly thought that the more popular youtiao was "pathongko". Eventually, the real pathongko disappeared from the market because of its unpopularity. The disappearance of real "pathongko" left the youtiao labeled under the former's name, while the latter's real name is generally unknown amongst the Thais. The original white sugar sponge cake can still be easily found in Trang Province in Southern Thailand under its original name while youtiao is still called "chakoi" or "chiakoi" by some Southerners.
In Thailand, pathongko is often dipped in condensed milk or, in the southern regions, served with kaya. In certain provinces, such as Chanthaburi and Kanchanaburi, it is enjoyed with a sweet-and-sour dipping sauce, which is considered a local delicacy.

Vietnam

In Vietnamese cuisine, it is known by a name that is a pronunciation similar to the Cantonese pronunciation, as dầu cháo quẩy, giò cháo quẩy or simply quẩy. 油, 鬼 coming from the approximate Cantonese pronunciation. In Vietnam, giò cháo quẩy is eaten typically with congee or phở in Hanoi, and sometimes with wonton noodle. In Southern Vietnam, quẩy is often enjoyed with bánh canh cua, or dipped in hot soymilk as a quick breakfast.