sweet egg rolls 蛋卷

I don't have sweet tooth. I eat very little sugar that my annual consumption of sugar is probably no more than a few pounds. I know this is quite accurate because I buy no processed food nor drink soda or fruit juice. In the rare occasions I eat sweets I am quite selective. Rarely when I am in the mood, the only chocolate I would eat is the Swiss. I like few British fruit candy called fruit drops that is quite tangy and less sweet. Long ago I leart to bake very good pound cake but I haven't make that for decades. It was a recipe taught to me by the father of my brother's classmate. He was the resident chef for the head of Jardines Matheson in Hong Kong during the colonial era.

There are some memorable sweets from Hong Kong. Most are much less sweet than sweets found in the US. In one of my recent trip back to Hong Kong I came upon a vendor selling freshly made sweet egg rolls. Actually I come across them very often but what is unusual that day was she would sell you 1 or 2 instead of forcing you to buy a one-pound bag. I knew they would be good from the fragrance in the air. I bought 2 and they are exactly like those I loved in my childhood.

The ingredients for the egg rolls are very simple. Egg, flour, sugar, coconut milk and butter (or margarine), and may be a little salt.

In the by gone era in Hong Kong there were a lot of street vendors sell freshly made sweet egg rolls. they make them by pouring a very thin layer of batter onto a mild steel press very similar to a tortilla press. The source of heat is charcoal. When the steel press is close the batter is compressed and oozed outwards creating a paper-thin sheet. The vendor then open the press and using a wooden dowel to roll up the sheet into a egg role. After cooling the egg roll is extremely light and fluffy, rivals even the best of French dessert.

I had bought these sweet egg rolls here in the US before. You can find them in Asian grocery stores. Over a decade ago I could find some made in Hong Kong. While they were much inferior than the ones I grew up with in Hong Kong they were not bad substitutes. In recent years the only one you can find in North America are all from China - by this I mean mainland China instead of the two special Cities, Hong Kong or Macau (actually Macau is famous of very high quality egg rolls).

In came across this small package recently shortly after the Chinese New Year. I figure this may be good because the merchant may source better quality one for the New Year. It was only $3 for the package with 6 oz net weight. I was optimistic it may be good.

 there are 4 small sealed packages each with 3 egg rolls

 i like eating them with a cup of good coffee - an Americana (double-shot espresso with hot water) in this case

It turned out they are only pedestrian. Pedestrian as the ones you can find all over US in Asian Grocery stores. They are too sweet and made with processed food ingredients. Instead of rolling up from paper thin sheet of batter they were machine-made in a single layer. Hence they lack the fluffy mouth feel and are simply just too heavy.

A few days later shopping I decided to buy a can. Like I said they are from mainland China so I did not have high hope. The can has net weight of 16 oz so for $5.99 it is cheaper than the one above. Reading the ingredients would prove my reservation.

 there is one full pound of egg rolls in there

 as I expected it is not layered being bad machine made

this brand too taste pedestrian at best

So this recent experience confirmed my skepticism on a lot of Chinese food here in North America. This would be my last time buying these here. Next time I take a trip to Hong Kong or Macau I would not hesitate to buy a pound even though a pound is much more than I care to consume in a few days.

I had been on a look out for the steel egg roll press in restaurant supply stores in Hong Kong but I had not find one that is well made (as the one used by the street vendors there).

Mar 12, 2013 update
The egg rolls in this tin can are huge sugar bombs for me. Just eating one and I can sense the sugar affecting my head. I thought to myself what were I thinking when decide to buy it.
out in the garbage it went - i ate only 3 in the can and could not enjoy them

Jan 22, 2014 update
Seeing there are a lot of visitors to this post I want to give an update to my hunt for good sweet egg rolls 蛋卷. I was in Hong Kong again a few months ago. If there is good sweet egg rolls 蛋卷 to be found it would be either in Hong Kong or Macau. I didn't go out of my way to find them. One day while bumming around in Sheung Wan 上環 I came across this small shop that sells and make sweet egg rolls 蛋卷 on premise. It was a good sign. I inquired and they have two types. The short ones they would sell you in a small bag, and a long one that they only sell in a square tin can. I asked her which is more fluffy. The long one in the tin can, she said. It was not the answer I was hoping for. I didn't want to carry a big tin can with me all day. I grudgingly settled on the small bag. Even they are not as fluffy as the long ones they are still very good. The sweetness is just right without being too sweet.

The name of the shop is 齒來香. If you are in Hong Kong looking for this shop here is it is.
back in the hotel - they looked not so photogenic after being in my backpack all day

In the ensuring days I visited Macau. Normally you would find decent sweet egg rolls 蛋卷 in the snack gift shops 手信店 near St. Pauls Cathedral. I tried the free samples the shops give out to the passerby. I was very unimpressed how poor most of them are. I had better ones in Hong Kong from not so promising looking street vendors in a trip a few years ago. The problems with many of these 手信店 near St. Pauls Cathedral in Macau is many are not owned by the original owners, or they have taken short cuts.