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Like so many of Hong Kong’s quintessential foods, the diminutive egg tart took a long and circuitous route to becoming a staple of the city’s tea restaurants, better known as cha chaan tengs. Food historians trace the pastry’s lineage at least as far back as the 14th century (custard tarts were part of Henry IV’s coronation banquet in 1399). By the 1920s, English merchants had brought the recipe to the southern Chinese port city of Guangzhou, where chefs adapted the tart to local tastes and ingredients — lightening the filling so that it resembled a steamed egg pudding and folding in lard to achieve a flakier, more tender crust. But it wouldn’t be until after World War II and the Chinese Civil War, when the Communist Party took control of mainland China and a wave of southern Chinese immigrants arrived in then-British-controlled Hong Kong, that the egg tart became more ubiquitous, thanks in part to the rise of cha chaan tengs in the middle of the 20th century. As Hong Kong became a new economic center, Cantonese and Western influences blended in the cha chaan teng, which served quick, inexpensive meals for the working class like macaroni soup, pork chops over fried rice with tomato sauce and baked goods — egg tarts, pineapple buns, coconut buns — all paired with strong milk tea. A World of Pastries How baked goods help tell the story of culture across the globe. A taste of bánh in Vietnam, conchas in Mexico, egg tarts in Hong Kong, wienerbrød in Denmark, trompe l’oeil entremets in France, kaab el ghazal in Morocco, convent sweets in Spain, baklava in Turkey and Frankenpastries in New York. Plus find recipes for home baking here. And take a closer look at the covers. By the time James Law, now 65, took over the 74-year-old Cheung Hing Coffee Shop in the wealthy Happy Valley neighborhood of Hong Kong in 2013, egg tarts were no longer made in-house — most cha chaan tengs had opted to save on labor and space by buying their sweets from wholesale bakeries. “But I [couldn’t] accept that,” Law says. He installed new ovens and hired new bakers to make the traditional style of egg tart, with flaky, fluted edges, as opposed to a short-crust pastry. In 1954, the original location of Tai Cheong Bakery in central Hong Kong popularized the shortbread-style cookie base, which is less labor intensive, as it forgoes repeated folding of the dough to create layers. This method has become more widespread, but the laminated style still has its passionate adherents. “If you don’t have an opinion, then you can’t really call yourself a Hong Konger,” says the Hong Kong-raised chef Lucas Sin, 32, who is working on a cha chaan teng cookbook. “The rivalry can get intense.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
