Youtiao is a common dish in many East and Southeast Asian countries. It is also known as the Chinese cruller, Chinese oil stick, Chinese doughnut and the fried breadstick.

It is a long strip of dough tat is deep fried till it’s golden-brown. They are usually lightly salted and made so they can be torn lengthwise into two. It’s usually eaten with soy sauce and accompanied by rice congee and soy milk.

In Cantonese, youtiao’s are usually called yàuhjagwái, which means “oil-fried devil” and according to folklore, it is an act of protest against the Song Dynasty official Qin Hui who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei. 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.

Then in Mandarin Chinese, the dish is known as guǒzi in northern Chinese, even though it’s only known as youtiao in standard mandarin throughout China.

In Malaysia and Singapore, it is known as you char kway. It is rendered in Malaysian as cakoi, an alteration of “char kuey.” The Malay version comes with various fillings, which are either sweet, such as red bean paste or savory, such as sardines fried in tomato sauce. Then the plain version is just eaten with coconut and egg jam. It is usually accompanied by rice congee. The char kway is cut into thin slices and dipped into the congee and eaten. It is most commonly eaten for breakfast with coffee or soy milk like the Chinese.