An egg waffle is a spherical egg-based waffle popular in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
,
consisting of an eggy leavened batter cooked between two plates of semi-spherical cells. They are usually served hot, and often eaten plain, although they may be served with fruit and flavors such as strawberry, coconut or chocolate.
It is referred to by its original Cantonese name, ''gai daan jai'' (雞蛋仔),
and in English, an egg puff, bubble waffle, eggette, pancake balls, pancake waffle, egglet, and puffle. They are sometimes referred to as Hong Kong cakes in
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...
s across America, especially in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
One piece of egg waffle can have around 20 to 35 small round 'balls'.
Egg waffles are among the most popular Hong Kong "street snacks" and were ranked No. 1 in a 100 most popular HK street snack listing. They have been a favored street snack since their emergence in the 1950s, when they were made with coal fire heating and sold from street kiosks in Hong Kong.
History
The origins of the egg waffle or ''gai daan jai'' (which literally translates to "little chicken egg") are unknown, despite being ingrained in the memories of Hong Kong residents young and old. One story says the enterprising post-war generation created the egg-shaped mold to make up for an eggless batter, as eggs used to be a luxury. Another tale points to street hawkers who bought damaged eggs on the cheap to work them into a batter, resulting in the classic golden color of the cake. It also is reasonable to suggest that the special iron skillet used to mold the ''gai daan tsai'' is a Hong Kong take on the traditional checkered European waffle press. Today, the two related snacks are often sold by the same stall."
There is also another tale that it originated from the 1950s, when a sundry shop owner did not want to waste broken eggs and tried to add flour, butter etc. and baked it in a mold.
However, in 1944, Mr Cheung, the founder of a food stall, began using a cart to sell ''daan jai kau'' which is the predecessor of egg waffle. ''Daan Jai Kau'' is bigger than an egg waffle, and it is often divided into 30 pieces for selling by the hawkers.
Preparation
![Eggette](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Eggette.JPG)
Egg waffles are made from a sweet, egg-rich batter that is cooked on a hot
griddle
A griddle, in the UK also called a girdle, is a cooking device consisting mainly of a broad, usually flat cooking surface. Nowadays it can be either a movable metal pan- or plate-like utensil, a flat heated cooking surface built into a stove or ...
, a special frying pan with small round cells (resembling an
æbleskiver
''Æbleskiver'' (, ingular: ''æbleskive'' are Danish snacks that are spherical in shape. The name literally means "apple slices" in Danish, although apples are not usually an ingredient in present-day versions. The crust is similar in texture to ...
pan but with a higher number of smaller round cells). The griddle is set on hot coals in the fire, or more commonly on an electrical heater. The batter is poured over the special frying pan and heated; the small ovals of egg waffles are thus formed. The crucial key to prepare a crispy egg waffle is to turn over the pan quickly after the batter is poured into the hot frying pan. This could create an egg waffle that is crispy on top, and cake-like on the bottom.
[ The waffle is also crispy on the outside with each bubble providing a fluffiness on the inside.] In addition to the conventional "egg taste", they are also available in a variety of flavours such as chocolate, green-tea, ginger, etc. Most batters used in egg waffle are quick bread
Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like yeast or sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consumin ...
s, although some are also made using a yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
-raised or ferment
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
ed batter. Egg waffles can be eaten at different times of the day, depending on local tradition.
Modern flavours
Despite the origin of the traditional egg waffle is from Hong Kong, it is nowadays being reinvented all around the world. It is common to see the egg waffle in a variety of flavours such as green tea, chocolate, cheese or purple sweet potato, but it has also gained popularity as a dessert in which it is served with different kinds of ice cream.
See also
* Pandan waffle
A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used ...
, a Vietnamese snack
* Æbleskiver
Æbleskiver (, ingular: ''æbleskive'' are spherically-shaped Danish snacks made from fried batter. The name literally means "apple slices" in Danish, although apples are not usually an ingredient in present-day versions. The crust is similar in ...
, a similar Danish dish
* Kuzhi paniyaram
Paniyaram ( ml, പനിയാരം) is an Indian dish made by steaming batter using a mould. It is named variously paddu, guliyappa, yeriyappa, gundponglu ( kn, ಪಡ್ಡು, ಗುಳಿಯಪ್ಪ, ಎರಿಯಪ್ಪ), kuzhi paniyar ...
, a similar dish from the south of India
* Paper wrapped cake
Paper wrapped cake () is a type of Chinese cake. It is one of the most common pastries served in Hong Kong. It can also be found in most Chinatown bakery shops. In essence, it is a chiffon cake baked in a paper cup.
In the bakeries of Chinatown ...
, a Hong Kong egg sponge cake
* Poffertjes
''Poffertjes'' () are a traditional Dutch batter treat. Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. Typically, ''poffertjes'' are a sweet treat, served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup or ...
, a similar Dutch dish
*Taiyaki
is a Japanese fish-shaped cake, commonly sold as street food. It imitates the shape of , which it is named after. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened adzuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, choco ...
* Takoyaki
is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bod ...
, a similar Japanese dish with savory octopus filling
* Imagawayaki
is a Japanese dessert often found at Japanese festivals as well as outside Japan, in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. It is made of batter in a special pan (similar to a waffle iron but without the honeycomb pattern), and filled with s ...
* List of quick breads
This is a list of quick breads. Quick bread is any bread leavened with some leavening agents other than yeast or eggs. Preparing a quick bread generally involves two mixing bowls. One contains all dry ingredients (including chemical leavening age ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Gai daan tsai challenge: The quest for Hong Kong's best egg waffle
{{Pancakes
Pancakes
Waffles
Quick breads
Sweet breads
Hong Kong cuisine
Hong Kong desserts
Street food