Alternative names | Bubble Waffle, Egg puff, puffle, gai daan jai, egglet |
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Type | Pancake or waffle |
Place of origin | Hong Kong |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Eggs, sugar, flour, evaporated milk |
Egg waffle | |||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 雞蛋仔 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 鸡蛋仔 | ||||||||||||
Jyutping | Gai1 daan6 zai2 | ||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Chicken egg + [diminutive suffix] | ||||||||||||
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An egg waffle is a spherical egg-based waffle popular in Hong Kong and Macau, [1] 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. [2] It is referred to by its original Cantonese name,gai daan jai (雞蛋仔), [1] and in English,an egg puff,bubble waffle,eggette,pancake balls,pancake waffle,egglet,and puffle.[ citation needed ] They are sometimes referred to as Hong Kong cakes in Chinatowns across America,especially in New York. [3] 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. [4] 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. [5] [6] [7]
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. [1] There is also another tale that it [8] However,in 1944,Mr Cheung,the founder of a food stall,began using a cart to sell daan kau jai (蛋球仔) which is the predecessor of egg waffle. Daan Kau Jai is bigger than an egg waffle,and it is often divided into 30 pieces for selling by the hawkers. [9] [10]
Egg waffles are made from a sweet,egg-rich batter that is cooked on a hot griddle,a special frying pan with small round cells (resembling an æbleskiver 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. [7] The waffle is also crispy on the outside with each bubble providing a fluffiness on the inside. [8] 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 breads,although some are also made using a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Egg waffles can be eaten at different times of the day,depending on local tradition.
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, [11] but it has also gained popularity as a dessert in which it is served with different kinds of ice cream. [12]
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 (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion (negi). The balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi).
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. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially cooked and frozen.
A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan. It is a type of batter bread. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably eaten in prehistoric societies.
A crêpe or crepe is a dish made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: sweet crêpes or savoury galettes. They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, fruit, vegetables, meats, and a variety of spreads. Crêpes can also be flambéed, such as in crêpes Suzette.
Æbleskiver are spherical 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 texture to European pancakes, but with a light and fluffy interior similar to a Yorkshire pudding. The English language spelling is usually aebleskiver,ebleskiver or ebelskiver.
Poffertjes are traditional Dutch batter cakes. Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. Typically, poffertjes are sweet treats served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup or advocaat. A savoury variant with gouda cheese is also made.
Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake. The dish is mostly associated with the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster, in particular the counties of Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Fermanagh, Longford, and Cavan. There are many recipes but all contain finely grated, raw potatoes and all are served fried.
Kue are bite-sized snacks or desserts originally from what is now Indonesia but have since spread throughout Southeast Asia. Kue is a fairly broad term in Indonesian to describe a wide variety of snacks including cakes, cookies, fritters, pies, scones, and patisserie. Kue are made from a variety of ingredients in various forms; some are steamed, fried or baked. They are popular snacks in Indonesia, which has the largest variety of kue. Because of the countries' historical colonial ties, Koeé (kue) is also popular in the Netherlands.
Put chai ko is a popular snack in Hong Kong. It is a rice cake made from white or brown sugar, long-grain rice flour with a little wheat starch or cornstarch. Sometimes red beans are also added. The batter is poured into porcelain bowls and steamed until cooked through. Then it is allowed to cool and served at room temperature. Traditionally, the hawker inserts two bamboo skewers into the cake to turn it out and the eater holds the skewers to consume. At present, most put chai ko are sold in plastic bags.
Serabi, surabi, or srabi is a traditional Balinese–Javanese snack, similar to a pancake, made of a rice flour-based batter with coconut milk or coconut cream and shredded coconut as an emulsifier. Most traditional serabi tastes sweet, as these pancake-like desserts are usually eaten with kinca, a golden-brown coconut sugar syrup in the Sundanese culinary tradition.
Hong Kong street food is characterised as the ready-to-eat snacks and drinks sold by hawkers or vendors at food stalls, including egg tarts, fish balls, egg waffles and stinky tofu, according to the definition provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization. They can be found throughout the city, especially in the areas of Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan, and Kwun Tong.
The Tai On Building is a residential and commercial building in Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong. It was once one of the largest buildings in the district and remains a landmark. The ground floor arcade is well known for its many snack shops.
Kue pukis or simply called Pukis is an Indonesian kue or traditional snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special mold pan. It is a commonly found snack in Indonesian traditional markets.
DanBing (dànbǐng), also known as egg pancake or rolled egg crepe, is a Taiwanese breakfast dish. Different regions makes the dish differently, in most cases, the dough is made by kneading flour, potato starch, glutinous rice flour, and water into a thin dough, and an omelet is baked on top of the dough. In Taiwan, dan bing is mainly sold at breakfast shops, restaurants as well as night market food stalls. They are also sold commercially in supermarkets, where the dough is frozen in plastic packaging, and egg is added as the dough is heated.