Street Eats: Egg Puffy Torch, the Sugary Pleasure

Street Eats: The Sugary Pleasure of a Puffy Egg Torch

Tracy Wang, Senior Editor | Aug 30, 2016 2:38 pm | Add a comment | 2323 reads

Egg puffs or egg waffles (鸡蛋仔, jīdàn zǎi) – sweetened egg-based batter cooked between two semi-spherical plates, giving the appearance of fluffy stacked cells – have been one of the most popular street snacks in Hong Kong and Macau since the 1950s.

To spruce this indelibly popular treat up for the warmer months, outlets now offer it alongside a dollop of ice cream. To see what all the fuss was about, we went to Espressamente Illy for their rendition: the Puffy Torch.

Arriving at 5pm, there were many people assembled across the tables outside Parkview Green, rewarding themselves in the sun for making it through yet another day in the office. There are three Puffy Torches on offer here: mango ice cream, lemon ice cream, and blackcurrant ice cream, all coming in at RMB 38.

We ordered the lemon, and even though no one else was waiting in line, it took over 15 minutes to finally receive our ice cream Puffy Torch. Upon first glance, it looks much like how you'd expect a puffy torch to look like: a triangular structure made of egg puffs folded into a paper cup and filled with a scoop of lemon ice cream, an Oreo, and a dash powdered sugar. The egg puff was hot and crispy on top, and cake-like inside. The ice cream was cold and tart thanks to the visible pieces of lemon peel. It's quite the mission to eat it elegantly as patrons have been demonstrating via their Instagram, because the ice cream melts extremely fast and drains downwards. The accompanying Oreo pushes the dessert's sugar levels over the top.

If I were to return, I would pick the original egg puff (RMB 18), instead of this messy warm-cold mixture. You may want to do the same, unless you're looking for a prime social media attention grab opportunity (we won't judge).

You can also check out these places, if you are craving more sweet pleasure: