Hong Kong Egg Waffles (Gai Daan Jai)

About This Recipe

Gai daan jai, literally 'little chicken eggs,' are the most beloved street snack in Hong Kong, sold from MTR-station stalls and Mong Kok side alleys for over sixty years. The batter — eggs, sugar, evaporated milk, flour, custard powder, and a touch of baking powder — is poured into a hinged cast-iron mold studded with hemispherical wells, then clamped shut and flipped over an open gas flame. Three minutes later, the cook prises the mold open to reveal a sheet of golden bubbles, crisp on the outer shell and soft, almost custard-like in the center. The texture is the whole point: each bubble shatters between your teeth then yields to a vanilla-egg interior that tastes like the love child of a waffle and a sponge cake. Vendors fold the warm sheet into a paper cone so you can pull off bubbles one by one as you walk. Modern shops have added flavors — chocolate, matcha, sea salt cheese, Oreo — but the original plain version remains untouchable: warm, eggy, faintly sweet, and gone before you reach the next tram stop. Making them at home requires the dedicated egg waffle iron (cheap on Taobao or Amazon), but once you own one the batter takes ten minutes and the technique is forgiving.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 3 largeeggs, at room temperature for maximum lift
• 150 gcaster sugar
• 120 mlevaporated milk (Carnation), gives the signature flavor — do not substitute fresh milk
• 60 mlwater
• 2 tbspneutral oil (sunflower or peanut)
• 200 gplain flour
• 2 tbspcustard powder (Bird's), critical for color and aroma
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 0.25 tspfine salt
• 1 tspvanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1

   Whisk wet ingredients

   In a large bowl whisk eggs and sugar for 2 minutes until pale, thick, and ribbon-stage. Add evaporated milk, water, oil, and vanilla and whisk until uniform. The aeration here builds the bubble structure.

2. 2

   Combine dry, then fold together

   Sift flour, custard powder, baking powder, and salt into a second bowl. Add to the wet in three additions, whisking smooth between each. The finished batter should pour like single cream — thicker batter gives dense waffles, too thin and bubbles collapse.

   Strain through a fine sieve to remove lumps — Hong Kong masters always strain.

3. 3

   Rest the batter

   Cover and rest 30 minutes at room temperature. This hydrates the flour and relaxes gluten so the bubbles puff evenly. Skipping the rest gives a tough, chewy waffle instead of crisp-tender.

4. 4

   Heat the iron

   Preheat your egg-waffle iron on high until a drop of water dances and evaporates instantly (about 4 minutes on a gas flame). Brush both plates lightly with oil before the first waffle only — non-stick coating handles the rest.

5. 5

   Pour and clamp

   Pour about 150 ml batter onto the bottom plate to just cover the wells. Close immediately and flip the iron upside down — gravity helps batter fill every bubble cavity for that classic 3D shape.

6. 6

   Cook over flame

   Cook 90 seconds, flip back, cook 90 more, then flip once more for 30 seconds. Total 3.5 minutes. You'll see steam slow and smell vanilla-egg toasting — that's done.

7. 7

   Release and cool briefly

   Open the iron carefully (steam burns). Lift the waffle with a wooden skewer — it releases cleanly when ready. Cool 30 seconds on a rack so the outside crisps, then roll into a cone shape while still warm and pliable.

8. 8

   Eat immediately

   Eat within 5 minutes — that's when the contrast between crackly shell and soft bubble interior peaks. Tear off bubbles one at a time straight from the cone.

Variations

• •

  Chocolate: replace 30 g flour with 30 g cocoa powder and add 50 g chopped dark chocolate to the batter.

• •

  Matcha: replace custard powder with 2 tbsp ceremonial matcha for a Tokyo-Hong Kong fusion popular since 2015.

• •

  Sea salt cheese: brush the warm waffle with melted unsalted butter, sprinkle flaky salt and shaved Parmesan — a Causeway Bay night-market favorite.

• •

  Stuffed: wrap the warm waffle around a scoop of mango ice cream and condensed milk drizzle for a dessert-shop classic.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Leftover waffles lose crispness within an hour; revive by 3 minutes in a 180°C oven (never microwave — turns rubbery). Batter keeps refrigerated 24 hours; whisk before using.

Frequently Asked Questions