Patongkoh

From China to Malaysia, Vietnam to Burma, these sticks of fried dough are sold for breakfast.

These ones are being made fresh in Laos, and were sold plain (slightly salty) or coated in sugar. They're deep-fried over a fire in a cart, then cooled in a conical woven basket the same shape as a sticky rice steamer before being dispensed to hungry customers.

Later, in Chiang Mai, I breakfasted on the same snack, served with hot sweet soy milk. It's especially delicious dipped right in the hot liquid, if a rather rich way to break a fast.

The dough sticks are yu tiao in Mandarin, and you can buy them in Chinese and Viet groceries all over Canada (though not usually as freshly made). In Laos, they're called pah thawng ko (or so wikipedia tells me) and in Thailand, patongkoh. But pointing and smiling works fine.