10 Most nostalgic desserts in Hong Kong

A dollop of maltose syrup sandwiched between two saltine crackers may seem like a relatively humble dessert, but this treat is irresistibly moreish. Maltose cracker sandwiches used to be one of Hong Kong’s most classic street snacks; unfortunately, it’s a rarity of sorts these days. A perfect combination of sweet and savoury, this treat can only usually be found at mom-and-pop tuck shops located on outlying islands or weekend markets. Luckily, it can be easily recreated at home by simply buying a small tub of maltose syrup and a pack of crackers from your nearest grocery store.

It’s believed that dragon beard candy dates back to the Ming Dynasty when Emperor Zhengde discovered his subjects enjoying this aromatic dessert during one of his trips into the city. Upon his discovery, he ordered the dessert to be brought back to the palace, which led to the treat being decreed as a royal delicacy. Dragon beard candy gets its name from the thin sugar strands that cover its exterior, which resembles a wispy beard that a dragon has. The dessert is made by boiling maltose or sugar until it forms a syrup, then pulling and twisting the cooled syrup until it forms fine hair-like strands. A handful of strands are then used to wrap up fillings made with sesame seeds or crushed peanuts, along with shredded coconut and sugar. It's hard to find freshly-made dragon beard candy nowadays, as most are already pre-made. Some are even packaged with well thought out designs, turning this traditional treat into the perfect souvenir.

Black sesame rolls have earned the affectionate nickname of ‘film rolls’, due to their colour and cylindrical shape. To start, black sesame seeds are roasted until they turn golden and oily. The seeds are then crushed and combined with water chestnut powder, sugar, and water. Then, the mixture is poured into trays and steamed until translucent, before being rolled up into its’ signature shape. Nowadays, black sesame rolls can be found at traditional dessert shops such as Mrs. Fong Chinese Desserts, located on Temple Street in Jordan.

Put chai ko is one of Hong Kong’s most old-fashioned desserts, yet it still remains popular to this day. This pudding dessert can be found in all sorts of flavours and colours, but most of the time, it’s sold in two classic flavours – brown sugar or coconut milk – and can be found with or without red beans. Traditionally, put chai ko is steamed in small clay pots or porcelain bowls, and are pried out of their containers using bamboo skewers. A key aspect of a well made put chai ko is that its texture should be chewy, but doesn’t stick to your teeth.

Literally translating to ‘sugar onion biscuit’, this candy and coconut wrap originates from the Chaoshan province of China. As migrants from Chaozhou gradually made their way to Taiwan and Hong Kong, so did this classic treat. This dessert consists of a big piece of wafer-like candy along with shredded coconut, crushed peanuts, and sesame seeds, all neatly wrapped inside a thin pancake. If you’re confused about where the ‘onion’ part comes in, the big piece of candy that gets wrapped has a shiny white colour and long pockets of air inside, which make them look like the white part of spring onions.

Would you be surprised if we told you there aren’t any bananas in this? Banana mochi rolls are made with raw and cooked glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar, and banana flavoured extract. With just a few drops of flavoured extract, a seemingly plain batch of glutinous rice dough gets transformed into a delightfully fragrant dessert. Banana mochi rolls can still be found in most old-fashioned dessert shops today, and luckily for us, they don’t cost too much.

Ding ding candy was first brought into Hong Kong from the Guangdong province, and it gradually increased in popularity during the 60s. These pieces of candy may be small in size, but it takes plenty of skill to be able to create them. Maltose sugar gets melted into a syrup, then flavoured with add-ins like ginger. Once the sugar has completely melted, it gets cooled off before it is pulled and twisted to achieve a crunchy texture. In the past, hawkers who sold ding ding candy would place a large piece of the candy on a metal plate and break it up with a hammer to be sold in smaller pieces. By doing so, a loud ‘ding, ding’ noise is made, which explains the origin of this sweet treat's name.

Back in the day when we were little kids, Chinese shortbreads seemed nearly impossible to finish alone because of how big they were. These pieces of shortbread are made with the simplest ingredients – wheat flour, white sugar, eggs, and water – and are baked until lightly pale yellow. Unlike other shortbreads, Chinese shortbread is comparatively less sweet and has a dry and flaky interior, so be sure to sip on something as you munch through one or you’ll end up parched.

Century eggs were onced notoriously dubbed as ‘the world’s most disgusting food’. Nonetheless, they have been enjoyed by many for centuries in both sweet and savoury forms. One of the ways that this ingredient is relished is through century egg pastry, where the egg is delicately wrapped in a thin pastry and baked to golden perfection. In traditional Chinese customs, century egg pastries are considered a delicacy to be enjoyed during weddings. These baked treats traditionally contained an entire century egg along with a slice of pickled ginger, but nowadays, it’s more common to see the preserved egg as a finely chopped up filling, and most bakeries don’t include pickled ginger.

Glutinous rice dumplings have become popular in recent years due to Cheung Chau’s version of the dumpling, which uses hefty slabs of mango as a filling. But traditionally, these rice dumplings are stuffed with ingredients like sesame or crushed peanuts. Firstly, the peanuts and sesame seeds are roasted until they turn fragrant, then they’re mixed with shredded coconut and sugar. The filling is then generously scooped into glutinous rice sheets, before being tightly sealed in order to form plump rice dumplings.