Conventionally, youtiao are lightly bao dough and made so they can be torn lengthwise in two. In other Asian countries, they may also be called bicho, you char kway, cakwe, cakoi, kueh, kuay, shakoy or pathongko, among others.
Youtiao wrapped in a rice noodle roll is known as zháliǎng. Youtiao is also an important ingredient of the food Cífàn tuán in Shanghai cuisine. Thai are eaten for breakfast with soymilk or porridge. Some Chinese Cambodian immigrants in Australia sometimes call it chopstick cake because of its resemblance to a pair of chopsticks. In Indonesia, the fried dough is known as cakwe and is commonly chopped or thinly sliced and then eaten for breakfast. It is rendered in Malay language as cakoi, an alteration of the Minnan term, char kway. The youtiao is a popular breakfast food in Myanmar, where it is called e kya kway.
It is also usually dipped into coffee or tea. E kya kway is also eaten with rice porridge, or cut into small rings and used as a condiment for mohinga. Some shops stuff meat into the youtiao and deep fry it over again. In Thailand, pathongko is also dipped into condensed milk or, in the South, eaten with kaya. 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. A Taiwanese dictionary with frequently used Chinese characters.
