One of the things I love and miss about Hong Kong (or perhaps this applies to Asia in general) are the unusual foods that are available. About half of the snaps I’ve taken below and grouped together in this dessert post are Japanese snacks. Japanese cuisine and culture are extremely popular in Hong Kong and is evident in the many Japanese supermarket chains and department stores that make up some of the main shopping destinations in the thriving city.
My aunts have a lot of colleagues who frequently travel over to Japan for business trips and one of them very kindly bought these Matcha green tea Kit Kats for us to try! My aunts had actually saved the chocolates in their fridge anticipating our arrival (which is a distant memory now!). If you’re a fan of Matcha in general, you would love these. They taste a little like green tea lattes in solid form! Yum.
The fish shaped dessert below is a Taiyaki. They are traditionally made from waffle batter and filled with red bean paste (adzuki beans). As you can see from the slight ice still left on them, these are ice cream versions! I suppose they’re pretty much like ice cream sandwiches but they are filled with Vanilla ice cream with a layer of red bean paste. These remind me of being little, not because I used to eat them regularly but I recall them featuring in many of the Animes that I used to watch!
On the left is Hailey and her melons. Haha ok (I couldn’t resist), they’re little watermelon sorbets that I snapped while we were in one of the Japanese supermarkets. I think this was in City Super at Times Square, Causeway Bay. As with most Japanese supermarkets, it’s full of cutely packaged food and adorable kitchen paraphernalia. On the right is more Green tea goodness (you guys know I’m obsessed with anything green tea flavoured!) and it’s a green tea ice lolly filled with red bean paste. To be honest, I think Green tea, Red Bean and Sesame are three hugely popular flavours in Asia, and it’s something that I always miss when we come back home to the UK!
Speaking of sesame flavoured things, this was a dessert that we had at the end of one of our many dim sum sessions or yum cha (literally translates as ‘drink tea’) that the Chinese tend to refer to it as. They’re little dumplings made from glutinous rice flower (tong yuen), rolled in an almond powder that are filled with a black sesame paste. Oh my, this was one of Hailey’s favourite things and she definitely let out a little ‘oooh’ in nostalgia as she saw me putting the images together.
One of my favourite desserts ever is Tofu Dessert (Dofu fa). The dessert is made from very soft Tofu with a sweet ginger syrup. Other times sugar or syrup is added to taste. It’s the best thing ever! The dessert shop, Sweet Auntie or 甜姨姨 in Tin Hau, serves the dessert in the traditional way in a little wooden bucket! My grandad ordered this and he was given a timer. When the timer beeped, you were allowed to take the lid off and eat it. This was torture for my grandad, as we all finished our cold desserts and he hadn’t even started his.
I love this picture of my grandad, he was SO pleased when the timer went off and he could finally dig in! The photo on the right is actually an Instagram photo I took yesterday, just so you guys know what Tofu dessert looks like. I also take a constant stream of the photos I eat on Instagram, it makes me obsessive about well presented food!
The thing is, when you’re on holiday you eat so much which is not so good on the waistline! My family kept surprising us with various treats. So after a long day of shopping and entertaining ourselves around Hong Kong, we came back to these yummy Napoleans one evening. Forget that crummy one from this post these ones might not look as colourful but they were amazing and filled with fresh cream and made on the spot for us.
These were even more cakes that we carried home one day from near where we live.As ever, they’re all made from the lightest sponge which is traditional with Chinese style cakes and I spot a Chocolate, strawberry, Mango, Black Forest and Black Sesame flavours.
The last of my green tea flavoured desserts on here is this lurid green tea ice cream we had one evening at a Korean BBQ restaurant. I’ve definitely had better but it’s still something I’d order without a moment’s hesitation.
Lastly, It’s not exactly dessert but Bubble Milk Tea is one of my favourite things and they’re pretty much a meal in itself with the large tapioca pearls that you end up chewing on. Yum! On the left is me sipping some Chocolate Soya milk by Vitasoy. You guys probably know by now that I am hardly a giant at only 4″11′ so the proportions do look a bit funny in this photo! The Vitasoy in hand is actually mini and we couldn’t resist buying a pack and coo over their miniature cuteness. I think all Asian kids grow up with this drink and the Vitasoy brand is STILL very much a staple in our fridge at home!
Over and out! x
