Custard tarts were introduced in Hong Kong in the 1940s
by cha chaan tengs. Which was derived from the original "pastel de
nata" (Portuguese egg tarts) Egg tarts evolved from the very similar
Portuguese egg tart pastries, known as pastel de nata, traveling to
Hong Kong via the Portuguese colony of Macau. Hong Kong egg tarts are an adaptation of
English custard tarts. Canton (modern Guangdong) had more frequent
contact with the West, in particular Britain, than the rest of China. Also, as
a former British colony, Hong Kong adopted some British cuisine.
The moment we talk about egg tarts,
we know that it all started from renowned country that is in Hong Kong. Nevertheless,
egg tarts are the favorite of many and mine as well. Today, egg tarts come in
many variations within Hong Kong cuisine, including egg white,
milk, honey-egg, ginger-flavoured egg, which are variations of a traditional
milk custard and egg custard, and also chocolate tarts, green-tea-flavoured
tarts, and even bird's nest tarts.
Overall, egg tarts have two main types of crusts: shortcrust
pastry or puff pastry,
traditionally made with lard rather than butter or shortening. They are both filled
with rich custard that is much eggier and less creamy than English custard
tarts. Unlike English
custard tarts, milk is normally not added to the egg custard, and
the tart is not sprinkled with ground nutmeg or cinnamon before serving. It is also served
piping hot rather than at room temperature like English custard tarts.
In
today generation of baking an egg tart, many chefs from Chinese cuisine tried
to improvise egg tart from pandan, chocolate, and many more flavors. Some even
tried to enhance the pastry to even a thinner version crust to give mouth bite
of flavorful custard. This can be all
done by folding the pastry crust to few layer with butter and then bake the
pastry with the custard in a shorter period of time. This method of baking can
be seen in croissant, as croissant texture is flaky in the inside and crispy on
the outside.
There
are many methods of eating egg tarts; some ate it for dessert, some for
appetizer, and some for main course. As for the Asian part of the continent,
they love to eat it as their main course, for an example; dim sum. The western part
of the globe, mostly eaten as snacks or tea breaks and accompany with a
soothing fragrant tea that melts the egg tart smoothly.
