Information about Youtiao

Youtiao
Pieces of Youtiao
Traditional Chinese:
Simplified Chinese:
Hanyu Pinyin:	yóutiáo
Cantonese Jyutping:	jau4 tiu4*2
Literal meaning:	oil strip
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: yóutiáo Yue (Cantonese) - Jyutping: jau4 tiu4*2
Fried bread stick
Chinese:	油炸鬼
Literal meaning:	oil-fried devil
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: you2 zha4 gui3 Min - Min-nan POJ: iû-chia̍h-kóe Yue (Cantonese) - Jyutping: jau4 zaa3 gwai2

Youtiao or You tiao is a long, golden-brown, deep fried strip of dough in Chinese cuisine and other East and Southeast Asian cuisines and is usually eaten for breakfast. Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and made so they can be torn lengthwise in two. Youtiao are normally eaten as an accompaniment for rice congee or soy milk.

Names

Youtiao is also known as guozi (果子, pinyin: guǒzi) in northern China. In Cantonese-speaking areas it is known as yau ja gwai meaning "oil-fried devil". In Singapore it is known by its Hokkien name, u char kway (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iû-chia̍h-kóe). In Vietnamese cuisine, it is known through Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Cantonese name, as "dầu cháo quỷ".

It is also a popular breakfast food in Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, and Thailand, where it is called e kya kway, bitsu, and patongkoh respectively. In Australia it is sometimes called chopstick cake by some Cambodian Chinese immigrants because of its resemblance to a pair of chopsticks.

The Cantonese name yau ja gwai and Hokkien name u char kway literally mean oil-fried ghost and, according to tradition, is an act of protest against Song Dynasty official Qin Kuai (秦檜, Cantonese: Chun Kui), who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei (岳飛), an icon of patriotism in Chinese culture. It is said that the food, originally taking the form of two deep-fried human-shaped dough but later evolved two doughs joining in the middle, represents Qin Kuai 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 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.^[1]

The word yau ja gwai is believed to be a corruption of yau ja kuai (油炸檜, Mandarin pronunciation: yóuzhá Kuài; lit. oil-fried Qin Kuai). There are several possible explanations:

• 檜 and 鬼 are similar in pronunciation in the popular Chinese dialect at the time, and the corruption occurred when the dish is spread to southern provinces, where the pronunciation of local dialect differs.
• Qin Kuai's actions caused a deep-rooted hatred that persisted despite his death. The dish's name changed yau ja gwai, with the ghosts (鬼) referring to spirits of Qin and his wife.
• the population were afraid to openly declare their contempt towards the corrupt official when he was still in power; nevertheless, the food became a tool in expressing contempt.

The Mandarin name you zha hui was subsequently shortened to you hui and evolved into you tiao, because of the shape.

Variants

• Tanggao, or "sugar cake", is a sweet, fried food item similar in appearance to youtiao but shorter in length.
• Cow-tongue pastry (牛脷酥) is similar but elliptical in shape like ox tongue and tastes sweet, whereas youtiao is consumed with both sweet and savory foods such as sweet soy milk or congee. Like youtiao, cow tongue pastry is a popular breakfast food.
• At breakfast, youtiao can be stuffed inside shaobing (燒餅, pinyin: shāobǐng; lit. roasted flatbread) to make a sandwich.
• Youtiao wrapped in a rice noodle roll is known as Zhaliang.
• Youtiao is also an important ingredient of the food ci fan tuan in Shanghai cuisine.

See also

• Fried dough foods
• Zhaliang
• Ci fan tuan
• Tenkasu

External links

• Deep fried bread stick

References