Youtiao Explained

Youtiao
Alternate Name:Chinese cruller
Place Of Origin:China
Region:Guangdong
Associated Cuisine:China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Course:Breakfast
Type:Donut
Served:Fried
Main Ingredient:Dough
W:yu2-t'iao2
H:yiu tiao
Y:yàuh tíu
P:yóutiáo
J:jau⁴ tiu⁴*²
Wuu:hhieu diau (T3)
L:oil strip
Altname3:Guozi
T3:餜子
S3:馃子
W3:kuo3-tzu0
P3:guǒzi
L3:pastry
Also Known As:Yu Char Kway
T2:油炸粿/餜/鬼
S2:油炸粿/馃/鬼
Poj2:iû-chiā-kóe
H2:yiu za gui
J2:jau⁴ zaa³ gwai²
W2:yu2-cha2-kuo3
P2:yóuzháguǒ
Y2:yàuh ja gwái
L2:oil-fried pastry (or devil)
My:အီကြာ‌ကွေး
Ee Kyar Kway
Km:ឆាខ្វៃ / យ៉ាវឆាខ្វៃ
Chha Khwai / Yav Chha Khwai
Tha:ปาท่องโก๋
Ms:cakoi
چاکوي
Rtgs:pathongko
Ind:cakwe
Pinyin Transcription2:yóuzháguǒ
Pinyin Transcription3:guǒzi
Tgl:bítso-bítso[1] /bicho-bicho/shakoy
Vie:dầu cháo quẩy / giò cháo quẩy
Lo:ເຂົ້າຫນົມຄູ່ / ຂະໜົມຄູ່ /ຈັບກ້ວຍ
Khao nom khu / kha nom khu / chab kuay
Su:cakué
ᮎᮊᮥᮆ
Jv:Cahkwé
꧋ꦕꦃꦏ꧀ꦮꦺ

Youtiao, known in Southern China as Yu Char Kway, is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough of Chinese origin and (by a variety of other names) also popular in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.

Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and easily separated by hand.[2] Youtiao are normally eaten at breakfast[3] as an accompaniment for rice congee, soy milk or cow's milk blended with sugar. Youtiao may also be known as a Chinese cruller,[4] Chinese oil stick,[5] Chinese donut [sticks], 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 others.

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 riceflour 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 (sweet or salty), 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 (Tamil: ปาท่องโก๋) in Thai are eaten for breakfast with soy milk or porridge.

Names

Cambodia

In Cambodia, it is called cha kway (Central Khmer: ឆាខ្វៃ) 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 (餜子) in northern China. In Min Nan-speaking areas, such as Taiwan, it is known as iû-chiā-kóe (油炸粿),[6] where kóe (粿/餜) means cake or pastry, hence "oil-fried cake/pastry". In Cantonese-speaking areas this is rendered as yàuh ja gwái (油炸鬼), where gwái literally means "devil" or "ghost".

Folk etymology

The Cantonese name yàuh ja gwái literally means "oil-fried devil" and, according to folklore,[7] is 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.[8] Thus the youtiao is deep fried and eaten as if done to the traitorous couple. 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.[9] 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 (in Malay pronounced as /tʃakwe/). It is commonly chopped or thinly sliced and then eaten for breakfast with bubur ayam (chicken porridge) 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 (sweet fried dough) and untir-untir (Javanese version of mahua). This snack is sometime served with spicy sweet salty sauce (optional). 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 (cf. Thai patongko) or "chao quay", and is commonly eaten with coffee at breakfast in place of a baguette (khao jee falang).[10] It is also eaten as an accompaniment to "khao piek sen" (chicken noodle soup) or "jok" (congee).

Malaysia

It is rendered in Malay language as cakoi, an alteration of the Minnan term, char kway. The name pathongko (see Thailand) is more common in the northern states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang,[11] kayu khamak or kuduh in Terengganu, kocok in Pahang and Perak and cakuwe in Kelantan. Cakoi is usually sold in morning street markets or pasar malam 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 (Burma) where it is called e kya kway (အီကြာကွေး [ì tʒà ku̯éː]). It is usually eaten with steamed yellow beans (with salt and oil) or dipped into coffee or tea, or with condensed milk(နို့ဆီ). 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

See main article: Shakoy.

In the Philippines, it is either known as Bicho / Bicho-Bicho (Hokkien: 米棗 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-tsó) or Shakoy / Siyakoy (Hokkien: 炸粿 Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tsia̍h-kué) / 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 (Minnan) name (油炸粿 iû-tsiā-kué). 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 (ham chim peng, 鹹煎餅), 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 (肉骨茶), porridge or rice congee, sliced thinly to be dipped into the broth or congee and eaten.[12]

Taiwan

In Taiwan, Youtiao is often known by its Hokkien name (油炸粿 iû-tsiā-kué) 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.[13]

Thailand

In Thailand, youtiao is generally called pathongko (Thai: ปาท่องโก๋, in Thai pronounced as /paːtʰɔ̂ŋkǒː/) due to a confusion with a different kind of dessert. Pathongko is a loanword adapted from either Teochew Minnan beh teung guai (白糖粿; Mandarin: bái tángguǒ) or Cantonese of baahktònggòu (白糖糕; Mandarin: bái tánggāo). 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 also dipped into condensed milk or, in the South, eaten with kaya. In some provinces, such as Chanthaburi and Kanchanaburi, pathongkos are eaten with sweet and sour dipping sauce, considered a local delicacy.[14] [15]

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 ("dầu/giò"), 鬼 ("quỷ/quẩy") 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 (mì hoành thánh or mì vằn thắn). In Southern Vietnam, quẩy is often enjoyed with bánh canh cua, or dipped in hot soymilk as a quick breakfast.

See also

Other Chinese fried dough dishes

Notes and References

  1. according to KWF Diksiyonáryo ng Wíkang Filipíno
  2. http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/youtiao-chinese-oil-stick-chinese-cruller/ Youtiao (Chinese Oil Stick)-Chinese Cruller – China Sichuan Food
  3. http://www.food.com/recipe/youtiao-chinese-deep-fried-donuts-482664 Youtiao Chinese Deep Fried Donuts) Recipe - Food.com
  4. http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa100499.htm "Chinese Breakfast"
  5. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1077215/healthier-youtiao-chengdu-vendor-finds-breakthrough-recipe Healthier 'youtiao'? Chengdu vendor finds breakthrough recipe | South China Morning Post
  6. 許極燉. 《常用漢字台語詞典》. 台北市: 自立晚報社文化出版部, 1992. (A Taiwanese dictionary with frequently used Chinese characters. Taipei: Independence Evening Post, 1992.)
  7. http://breadexpectations.yolasite.com/blog/yew-char-kway-the-easy-way Yew Char Kway the Easy Way by Denise Fletcher on July 7, 2011
  8. http://www.angsarap.net/2014/02/04/youtiao-chinese-crullers/ Youtiao (Chinese Crullers) - Ang Sarap
  9. West Lake, a Collection of Folktales page 181.
  10. http://www.cpamedia.com/food/lao_food/ "Laos: Food and Drink."
  11. https://says.com/my/lifestyle/kuih-muih-local-malaysian-snacks-and-their-alternative-names 15 Local Types Of Food That Have Totally Different Names Across Malaysia
  12. Web site: Lee . Penelope . Food Picks Podcast: Red-and-white youtiao and lychee sorbet as tribute to Singapore The Straits Times . www.straitstimes.com . 3 February 2022 . en . 19 August 2020.
  13. Web site: DeAeth . Duncan . Family-owned youtiao shop in southern Taiwan closes after 122 years in business . www.taiwannews.com . 28 June 2023 . en . 23 April 2023.
  14. Web site: thai. ปาท่องโก๋จันทบุรี มีดีที่น้ำจิ้ม. via YouTube. Channel 8. 2024-08-19. 2022-09-22.
  15. Web site: thai. 2021-03-16. 2024-08-19. Facebook. ปาท่องโก๋เมืองกาญจน์บวกน้ำจิ้ม.... ร้อยเรื่อง เมืองกาญจน์.