Bubble waffle bar8/13/2023 ![]() ![]() The waffle is curled into a cone and filled with ice cream or whipped cream. What’s so special about Hong Kong egg waffles? “Are you sure you want to write about bubble waffles? Why not char siu (barbecue roasted pork) or something more remarkable?” “I’ve looked everywhere but couldn’t find anything about Hong Kong bubble waffle irons in my father’s old sketches and notes,” says Leung Wing Cheung, the third-generation owner of the century-old kitchenware store/factory. Choy Tung Shing is one the oldest remaining blacksmiths in Hong Kong – most famous for its handmade ovens used for Cantonese roasted pork and goose.īut there, too, the owner struggled with my request. “Choy Tung Shing may be your best chance.” “We all import our waffle irons from China these days,” said one shopkeeper. Filled with kitchenware shops, it’s a popular destination for those buying bubble waffle irons. I kicked off my quest with a visit to Shanghai Street in Kowloon. Called “gai daan jai” in Cantonese, their texture can be described as a cookie and sponge cake hybrid. Not only do you venture into two new dessert territories (Hong Kong and the Phillipines), but you can strike off two must-eat desert trends in one bite: i) egg waffle, and ii) ube everything.When I decided to write a story about the origins of Hong Kong bubble waffles – also known as “egg waffles” – I thought it would be easy.Ī seemingly unexceptional cheap street food found throughout the city, these snacks are crispy on the outside, while each “bubble” is fluffy on the inside. ![]() The whole creation is then embellished with a sugar butterfly and other pretty things. It features a waffle casing embedded with ube, snuggling a ball of lightly-flavoured earl grey ice-cream. ![]() Short and sweet story: Of the three sweeter creations available at New Territories – note that you can’t DIY as at Eggloo or Wowfulls – we recommend the ube option for that something different.Dessert destination: New Territories, 190 Orchard Street, Lower East Side.Now, who said that dessert could not be a standalone meal encompassing all food groups? With wow-full stomachs, we disagree. A glowing, magical rainbow-hued orb of vanilla ice-cream perched on a mountain of confectionery and fruit, twizzled with chocolate-dipped pocky sticks, lashed with condensed milk. Short and sweet story: If you want a few steps up from Eggloo and Bubble Bar, especially in terms of crazier appearance, look no further than Wowfulls.Dessert destination: Wowfulls, 309 E Houston Street, Lower East Side.That 20 hours plus flight time to East Asia seems rather redundant now, no? Short and sweet story: Probably the closest interpretation of the Hong Kong tradition, Bubble Bar serves a less crispy, softer bubble waffle wrap accompanied by more Asian-esque flavours, such as green tea and red bean ice-cream, and a family of toppings comprising mochi, herbal grass jelly, lychee jelly, coconut jelly.Dessert destination: Bubble Bar, 204 West 14th Street, West Village border.We tried very, very hard not to be greedy, and picked original waffle + vanilla ice cream + sprinkles + mochi + condensed milk. Short and sweet story: The first to arrive in early 2016, Eggloo offers a choice of three different waffle base flavours – original, green tea or chocolate, and unlimited toppings. ![]() Dessert destination: Eggloo, 60 Mulberry Street, Chinatown.Here’s a quartet of the most scrumptious egg waffles re-imagined, NYC-style. Many a street food delicacy is slowly filtering its way across the world, seeking out, and finding, a more global audience of food lovers. Yet, fear not, these Dessert Correspondents say, just as wildlife finds a way to regenerate in the aftermath of a nuclear fallout, history can live on in different ways. There’s a lot of concerned chatter in Asia about the slow demise of street food vendors – of how the old men and women who sweated and toiled under the extreme heat of the tropics and of their respective stovetops are no longer being replaced by the new generations and of how big corporations (and politics) have started to sweep the vestigial remnants into the inauthentic atmosphere of glittering glass-and-steel shopping complexes. ![]()
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