The twisted Korean doughnut made with glutinous rice flour is called kkwabaegi.
Kkwabaegi is a Korean fried pastry with a distinctive spiral or braid-like shape. Its dough commonly combines wheat flour with glutinous rice flour, which gives the finished doughnut a pleasantly chewy texture. After frying, it is often coated with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
The name refers to the pastry’s twisted appearance. Kkwabaegi is sold in Korean bakeries, snack shops and traditional markets, where it is commonly eaten as a snack rather than as a formal dessert.
It is easy to confuse kkwabaegi with hotteok, another popular Korean street food. Hotteok is generally a filled, pan-fried pancake, while kkwabaegi is a twisted, deep-fried doughnut. Youtiao is also fried dough, but it is a Chinese cruller rather than a Korean sugar-coated pastry.