A Taste of Hong Kong: Egg Waffles

Last Valentine's Day, Aric decided to buy me an Egg Waffle pan after I oohed and ahhed over it during a Christmas stroll through one of our favorite stores: Williams-Sonoma. I'll admit, I was pretty excited about this pan, based on the following two reasons: (1) I have both an ebelskiver pan and a mini-waffle pan, also from Williams-Sonoma, that I adore and figured this would be a perfect addition to my pan collection and (2) the picture of the egg waffle on the packaging looked delicious. Note that I had never seen nor even ever heard of an egg waffle before this chance encounter so I had no idea if I would actually like it but what can I say, I am apparently a sucker for breakfast food pans!

My first attempt was somewhat of a disaster. I used the egg waffle mix, also found at Williams-Sonoma, and battled between burning the suckers and under cooking them. I think this mainly had to do with learning what stove top setting worked best with the pan, as my most recent attempt went off without a hitch.  (Note, I had similar (and somewhat frustrating) trial and error experiences with the other two pans on my first attempts but once you get that sorted out, you are good to go. Don't be discouraged!) 

I also switched it up slightly this time around and followed the recipe on Williams-Sonoma.com, which I preferred as it had nutmeg in it and was a slightly sweeter flavor.

Since I knew nothing about these waffles, I did a quick Google search after I got the pan to learn a bit about them. Sold as a street snack by sidewalk vendors in Hong Kong (and ranked No.3 in the 50 most popular HK "street snacks" to boot), gai daan tsai, or egg waffles are a puffy, doughy treat and are enjoyed for breakfast and snacks, eaten either plain or with fruit. Historians agree that the egg waffle originated in the 1950's but the story of where it came from are debatable.

Well, wherever it came from, it is a yummy twist on your traditional weekend waffle breakfast!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 6 egg whites, beaten to medium peaks
• Vegetable oil for cooking

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, butter and sugar until combined. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined and no lumps remain. Add one-third of the beaten egg whites to the batter and stir until lightened. Gently fold in the remaining whites in 2 additions.

Set a wire rack on a baking sheet. Preheat both sides of an egg waffle pan on separate burners over medium heat until hot. Lightly brush each side of the pan with vegetable oil and pour 3/4 cup batter into the center of one side. Immediately place the other side of the pan on top, flip the pan over and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Flip the pan over and cook until the waffle is golden brown on the other side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes more.

Open the pan, invert the waffle onto the rack-lined baking sheet and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Makes 5 egg waffles.