I Tried Hong Kong-Style French Toast and It Was So Good, I Made It Twice in One Day
I have always been a fan of French toast. Whether it uses croissants as the base or is made in the traditional way and topped with sweets like strawberries and chocolate, there’s really no type of French toast that is off-limits for me. With the type of love I have for French toast, it’s easy to understand the amount of excitement I was overcome with when I stumbled upon a recipe for a version that I’d never heard of before: Hong Kong-style French toast. And because it intrigued me so much, I just knew I had to take a shot at making it. So I grabbed all the ingredients, jumped in the kitchen, and got to work.
Get the recipe: Hong Kong-Style French Toast
How to Make Hong Kong-Style French Toast
You will need three slices of bread as your base for this recipe. Any kind of bread will suffice, but I opted for a thick-cut potato bread because I already had it in the cabinet. The choice is absolutely yours, though!
After you’ve chosen your bread, you’ll want to cut the ends off of the slices. Next, you’ll add your spread (the recipe called for peanut butter, but I opted to use Nutella as a substitute) to one slice of the bread and place it right-side up. Then you’ll take another slice of bread, add your spread, and place it on top of your first slice with your new layer of spread facing upward. Lastly, take your last piece of bread without any spread and place it on top.
Once you’ve evenly covered your slices of bread with the peanut butter (or spread of choice), you’ll dip it in your mixture of two eggs and a half-cup of evaporated milk. Be sure to coat the bread completely. Afterwards, place it in a small- or medium-size pan that has been preheated with cooking oil on medium heat and cook until golden-brown on each side. Top with butter and honey — or butter and syrup — and dig in.
My Honest Review of Hong Kong-Style French Toast
I can honestly say that this is by far one of my favorite ways to enjoy French toast. Not once had it ever dawned on me previously to layer the bread or have a filling inside. The Nutella added something that I didn’t even know I’ve been missing in French toast, and it really made me realize that there are always ways to take an old breakfast dish and make it new.
I was a bit shocked, however, when I realized this dish was made without one of the main ingredients I thought made French toast exactly what it needs to be: cinnamon. I didn’t even notice it until I was almost done making it.
In my opinion, adding the cinnamon does bring a new flavor and makes it pop. And while it did call for peanut butter, my subbing that out for Nutella made the French toast just a little better, as it exploded with flavor. Overall, I was very pleased with the results of this recipe. So much so that I ended up making it twice in one day! Very delicious.
3 Tips for Making Hong Kong-Style French Toast
Add cinnamon. This small addition gives it the more traditional taste that you may be looking for. It was delicious without it, but I do think it would have amped the flavor up just a bit with it.
Don’t be afraid to change out your filling, I tried using Nutella as a substitute because I don’t care much for the taste of peanut butter. I wanted to find something I would enjoy without missing the experience of having some filling inside. But while Nutella was my choice, you should be open to trying out your own fillings, too.
Add brown sugar into your egg and milk mixture. The brown sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the French toast, which allows you to not need much syrup (or honey) at all.
Get the recipe: Hong Kong-Style French Toast
This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: I Tried Hong Kong-Style French Toast and It Was So Good, I Made It Twice in One Day
