5 foods worth trying in Hong Kong if you have a sweet tooth

For many, desserts are the best part of a meal. For someone with a sweet tooth however, there’s no reason that the meal needs to end with dessert — you could begin your meal or even replace it completely with just desserts.

Hong Kong is one of the food capitals of the world and takes its food very seriously. The cuisine here is quite versatile. When you visit, there are some foods you absolutely must try if you are one of those who have a separate dessert stomach when you eat – and always have room for it.

1. Honey Toast

Honey toast is available in a range of flavours and styles, with strawberry vanilla, chocolate vanilla, and mango fudge among the many choices. The trend began in Taiwan and is now all the rage in Hong Kong. A popular cafe that offers this delectable dish is a Taiwanese cafe — Teawood.

The cafe offers a wide variety of traditional Taiwanese cuisine, such as stewed beef noodles, ‘fusion’ pasta, and of course, the star of the menu, the honey toast.

2. Gaidaan Jai

Egg waffles, eggettes, bubble waffle or as the Chinese call it, gaidaan jai are an iconic Hong Kong street food, dating back to the 1950s. Egg waffles are essentially spherical egg-based waffles cooked between two waffle irons containing semi-spherical moulds. The original recipe consists of eggs, flour, sugar and evaporated milk. Over the years, people have tweaked and perfected the recipe, creating innovative versions of the Hong Kong classic.

While this is a popular dish all over Hong Kong, the ice cream shop Oddies Foodies will definitely set the bar high for innovative ways to have the waffles, combining them with gelato, ice cream, panna cotta, brownies and more. While the decor is very plain, there is a decorated area on the side that is designed to make a good background for tourists who want to take photos.

3. Durian Tofu

Hong Kong’s dessert shops have taken durian — an import from south-east Asia — and worked it into a myriad of combinations, including durian ice cream, durian sorbet and durian slush drinks.

There’s a nuttiness to the taste of durian. Combine it with tofu and the stringiness of the durian meshes well with the taste. It has loads of texture in every bite. Put too much of fresh durian fruit in your spoon of tofu and it becomes intoxicating. Put little on it and you find yourself wanting for more. It’s the epitome of contradictions — the adventurous durian marrying with the innocent and humble tofu. 

A great place to try this dessert is Hong Kong’s famous dessert shop — Auntie Sweet. The textures are a wonder. Creamy, gooey durian with silky, watery tofu.

4. French Toast Ice Cream

Closely following in the footsteps of its Italian counterpart, ice cream is yet another popular dessert that has taken Hong Kong’s fancy. Not just the regular flavours though, Hong Kong is all about the innovation, especially with the desserts. Lab Made is Hong Kong’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream and drink dessert shop. They have different flavours of ice cream that alternate daily, such as mint chocolate chip, mango, and passion fruit, as well as drinks such as the pina colada. A unique flavour they have is that of French Toast.

You can enjoy this gastronomic scientific experiment made right before your eyes. While the menu does change often that’s part of the charm of this odd eatery. Common flavour bases include malted soy milk, tofu pudding and egg custard bun but the mystery adds to the experience so check it out.

5. Sweet Bean Curd

What most tourists know as sweet bean curd is locally called tofu far. This traditional Chinese dessert is basically a very soft pudding-like tofu in sweet rock sugar syrup. The soft and smooth texture of the bean curd contrasts with the crunchy sugar layer on top — a treat you definitely must try.

A great place to try this dessert is at the small takeaway stall of Tai Po’s Asia Po Bean Curd. The place gives an insight into Hong Kong’s culture, with customers shouting out their orders to the workers; it’s more like a stall than a conventional restaurant.

Have you been to Hong Kong? Have you tried these great desserts? Which is your favourite?