[annachan]

Eggettes (gai daan jai) have recently sprung onto the market in San Francisco. After trying several places, I've finally found one that made something close to the ones in Hong Kong. I actually have an old fashion eggettes maker at home but was not successful the time I tried it a while ago. Having had some good eggettes last night has sparked my interest in trying it out again.

So, anyone have a recipe out there for eggettes? How about a source for the new digital eggettes maker?

[Bux]

Neverheard of Eggettes, but those look suspiciously like what are sold from stands and pushcarts in NY's Chinatown as Hong Kong Cakes. No recipe here, but I have watchen them pour the batter into very old fashioned cast iron cake makers. All of the makers I've seen have been circular.

[hzrt8w]

I have never made that before, but I would imagine the batter is a simple mixture of flour, egg, milk, maybe water, with a pinch of salt.

These eggettes are not that different from waffles.

[BarbaraY]

Interesting! I just googled gai daan jai and this was the only reference found.

[mudbug]

RECIPE #1

Flour .................... 5 oz
Baking powder ...... 1 1/4 tsp (it says 5/4 tsp)
Cornstarch ............ 1 oz
Custard power ....... 1 tbsp

Sugar .................... 5 oz
Water .................... 5 oz
Eggs ...................... 2
Evaporated milk...... 2 tbsp
Oil ......................... 2 tbsp

Sift together the first 4 ingredients; beat the eggs and sugar,
add milk and water. Stir dry ingredients in, add oil last.
Heat both sides of griddle, add batter to about 80% full.
Close griddle and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes per side.
Remove with fork and serve immediately.

RECIPE #2
http://rthk27.rthk.o...5cuen/food3.htm

Flour ............... 100 g ... 4 oz
Baking powder ... 1 tsp ... 1 tsp
Cornstarch ..........25 g ... 1 oz
Custard power ... 1 tbsp

Sugar ............... 100 g ... 4 oz
Water ............... 125 ml .. 4 oz
Eggs ..................2
Evaporated milk .. 60 ml ...2 oz
Oil .................... 2 tbsp

The same instructions as above except the oil is added by brushing onto
the griddle before each batch.

As with pancakes or waffles, griddles tend to stick for the first 2 or 3 batches after which it should become seasoned.

This post has been edited by mudbug: 31 July 2005 - 02:39 PM

[annachan]

mudbug, on Jul 31 2005, 01:37 PM, said:

RECIPE #1

Flour .................... 5 oz
Baking powder ...... 1 1/4 tsp (it says 5/4 tsp)
Cornstarch ............ 1 oz
Custard power ....... 1 tbsp

Sugar .................... 5 oz
Water .................... 5 oz
Eggs ...................... 2
Evaporated milk...... 2 tbsp
Oil ......................... 2 tbsp

Sift together the first 4 ingredients; beat the eggs and sugar,
add milk and water. Stir dry ingredients in, add oil last.
Heat both sides of griddle, add batter to about 80% full.
Close griddle and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes per side.
Remove with fork and serve immediately.

RECIPE #2
http://rthk27.rthk.o...5cuen/food3.htm

Flour  ...............  100 g ... 4 oz
Baking powder ... 1 tsp ... 1 tsp
Cornstarch ..........25 g ... 1 oz
Custard power ... 1 tbsp

Sugar ............... 100 g ... 4 oz
Water ............... 125 ml .. 4 oz
Eggs ..................2
Evaporated milk .. 60 ml ...2 oz
Oil .................... 2 tbsp

The same instructions as above except the oil is added by brushing onto
the griddle before each batch.

As with pancakes or waffles, griddles tend to stick for the first 2 or 3 batches after which it should become seasoned.

Thanks, Mudbug! Will give those a try and report back!

[annachan]

Just tried the second recipe tonight. It didn't turn out too well. I think one of the problem is getting the temp right. Also, it turned out a little on the sweet side.

Guess I will play with the recipes some more.

[mudbug]

annachan, on Jul 31 2005, 04:58 PM, said:

Thanks, Mudbug! Will give those a try and report back!

Looking forward to it!

[hzrt8w]

annachan, on Aug 4 2005, 11:18 PM, said:

Just tried the second recipe tonight. It didn't turn out too well. I think one of the problem is getting the temp right. Also, it turned out a little on the sweet side.

I didn't read the recipe in detail. Now you mentioned it, both recipes use 1:1 ratio for flour and sugar. Wow! That's a lot of sugar! Reduce it down to 3:1 may be... I am not a baker, just used my general cooking experience.

[mudbug]

Interesting... yes, try it again and let us know so we can tweak the recipe.

[aprilmei]

Some of the gai dan jai here taste of coconut - you might want to try substituting coconut milk for some of the liquid. You'd have to reduce the sugar even more.
I've often watched the vendors make it. They open the iron and pour batter on about half of the lower half of the iron (so there's batter in roughly about 1/4 of the total iron). Then they close it and turn it over and over several times which distributes the batter thinly. The excess oozes out of the sides and they scrape it off. You'll have to practice before you're able to pour in the right amount of batter.

Another thing is that the best gai dan jai is made over coals - they take on a smoky flavour. But that wouldn't be very feasible.

[mudbug]

aprilmei, on Aug 5 2005, 02:27 AM, said:

They open the iron and pour batter on about half of the lower half of the iron (so there's batter in roughly about 1/4 of the total iron). Then they close it and turn it over and over several times which distributes the batter thinly. The excess oozes out of the sides and they scrape it off.

Where do you find the iron?

[aprilmei]

mudbug, on Aug 5 2005, 02:57 AM, said:

aprilmei, on Aug 5 2005, 02:27 AM, said:

They open the iron and pour batter on about half of the lower half of the iron (so there's batter in roughly about 1/4 of the total iron). Then they close it and turn it over and over several times which distributes the batter thinly. The excess oozes out of the sides and they scrape it off.

Where do you find the iron?

I don't have an iron - I just buy the gai dan jai from street vendors. They're quite common here.

[jaynesb]

I'm so glad that other people are trying to find a recipe for these. In NYC's Chinatown, I used to buy them on Moscou Street where they were called "Hong Kong Egg Cakes" and I did tons of google searches to try and find out a recipe. With the name "Gai Dan Jai", google returned more sites. Here's a recipe that the writer says came from a Chinese cookbook (and hasn't already been shown in earlier posts here.) I was surprised to find no salt, or flavoring in the recipe.

Here's the link:
google asian food eggette link

Here's the recipe from the link:
Hong Kong "Little Eggs"
6 eggs
6 oz. sugar
6 oz water
6 oz white flour
1/2 oz corn starch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add water. Sift dry ingredients into
egg mixture. Grease mold and heat until *very hot* before swiftly pouring
in batter, filling each depression about 60% full. Close mold tightly and
immediately invert pan in different directions to ensure even coverage
of batter on all sides. Then place pan over low heat for about 3 minutes
on each side.

jayne

[annachan]

mudbug, on Aug 5 2005, 01:57 AM, said:

aprilmei, on Aug 5 2005, 02:27 AM, said:

They open the iron and pour batter on about half of the lower half of the iron (so there's batter in roughly about 1/4 of the total iron). Then they close it and turn it over and over several times which distributes the batter thinly. The excess oozes out of the sides and they scrape it off.

Where do you find the iron?

I have an iron....my mom brought it back for me from Hong Kong....

[annachan]

aprilmei, on Aug 4 2005, 11:27 PM, said:

Some of the gai dan jai here taste of coconut - you might want to try substituting coconut milk for some of the liquid.

Recently, flavored eggettes have gotten popluar. When I was in Hong Kong last year, I saw chocolate, strawberry, coconut and something else. I've also seen honeydew ones over here. I haven't seen it yet, but I would imagine a coffee flavor one to taste good or even green tea.

[mudbug]

annachan,

Where did you get the custard powder? What does the packaging look like?

[annachan]

mudbug, on Aug 5 2005, 10:40 AM, said:

annachan,

Where did you get the custard powder? What does the packaging look like?

I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get custard powder from? I went to the website you directed me to and didn't see custard powder as an ingredient. The dry ingredient were flour, starch (I used corn starch) and baking powder. Well, I showed the recipe to my mom and that how she interrupted the recipe....

[mudbug]

annachan, on Aug 5 2005, 04:11 PM, said:

mudbug, on Aug 5 2005, 10:40 AM, said:

annachan,
Where did you get the custard powder? What does the packaging look like?

I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get custard powder from?

From the recipes I posted for you in URL=http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=71828#]Post #5 above[/URL]

I've never made them and I don't have the proper iron. Actually, I've never eaten them because I've never even seen them.

How thick are these things? I wonder how a pizzelle iron would work with the same batter, probably too flat to yield the proper texture...

[annachan]

mudbug, on Oct 6 2005, 07:33 AM, said:

annachan, on Aug 5 2005, 04:11 PM, said:

mudbug, on Aug 5 2005, 10:40 AM, said:

annachan,
Where did you get the custard powder? What does the packaging look like?

I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get custard powder from?

From the recipes I posted for you in URL=http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=71828#]Post #5 above[/URL]

I've never made them and I don't have the proper iron. Actually, I've never eaten them because I've never even seen them.

How thick are these things? I wonder how a pizzelle iron would work with the same batter, probably too flat to yield the proper texture...

Don't think a pizzelle iron would work. Eggettes are in the shape of eggs. The outside is crispy and the inside is half empty with a more custard like filling.

[mudbug]

I see. Sounds pretty good.

So basically, the custard powder is a key ingredient that we need to find. (Anyone?)

[No need to quote, actually makes the thread a little cluttered.]

[Dejah]

Would this be the same custard powder as "Bird's Custard Powder". I use this for trifle, but not sure if it would be the same.

[mudbug]

Interesting Dejah. Do you purchase this locally?

[Dejah]

Look for Bird's Custard powder in the dessert aisle or baking products aisle, in any supermarket, mudbug.

This post has been edited by Dejah: 09 October 2005 - 06:01 PM

[mudbug]

Dejah, on Oct 9 2005, 08:00 PM, said:

Look for Bird's Custard powder in the dessert aisle or baking products aisle, in any supermarket, mudbug.

Thank you Dejah, it's on my shopping list.