3 Chinese dessert shops that won't make you fat
Chewy and gingery, with a heap of crunchy chopped peanuts and sugar on top -- that's a good tong but lut. Visiting Lok Lam is like visiting a Chinese apothecary. From traditional black sesame soup (HK$10) that reportedly keeps gray hairs away to the trendy, depression-alleviating durian crepe (HK$16), the dessert house offers 89 tasty Chinese desserts that are actually good for you.
With the bright idea of selling his sister’s sweet concoctions, former taxi driver Chung Wah Sung quit a life behind the wheel to set up Lok Lam in a tiny space. The gamble paid off -- the Chungs eventually moved their enormously popular Chinese dessert shop to the more spacious current location.
“We have a lot of fans,” says Chung while serving up a Japanese-inspired tofu pudding (HK$12).
The best part -- we didn't feel at all guilty about ordering seconds.
Open daily 3pm-1.30am. 77-79 Yun Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. +852 2361 4205
In business for almost a century -- this little outdoor stall is one of Hong Kong's few remaining dai pai dong -- Yuk Yip Dessert Shop is still making Chinese dessert the way it did when the shop first opened.
From wooden folding tables diners can watch sesame being ground with an old stone mill to make sweet sesame soup (HK$7, HK$7.5 for the cold version) according to a recipe passed unchanged through four generations of family ownership. The tong but lut (sweet glutinous rice balls topped with ground peanuts and white sesame, HK$7) may be the best we've ever had.
Open daily 12pm-12.30am. 2 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong. +852 2544 3795
There are no pseudo models or designer bags, but on weekend nights, Sam Kee Dessert draws crowds of youngsters who can't get enough of the simple, old-school Cantonese desserts made from recipes their grandmothers might use at home.
Opened by the Tsui brothers 30 years ago, items such as mung bean soup with kelp (HK$9) and almond milk with lotus seeds (HK$12) are all high nutrition, low fat and rich flavor.
But the Chinese dessert that keeps us coming back is the velvety egg-white pudding (HK$13) whose smooth, pale appearance is comparable to white jade.
Open daily 1pm-12am. G/F, 313 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. +852 2540 3325
