Lindy's Hong Kong Bubble Waffles

Equipment
Electric Bubble Waffle Iron

What To Gather
1 ¼ cups cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon salt
-
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled^[1]
¾ cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
4 egg yolks
-
4 egg whites, beaten to medium peaks

What To Do

• In a large bowl, sift together: flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt
• In a medium bowl, whisk until combined: egg yolks, milk, vanilla, melted butter, sugar
• Whisk egg yolk mixture into flower mixture until well combined and no lumps remain
• Add ⅓ of the egg whites into the batter and stir until lightened
• In 2 additional phases, gently fold in the remaining egg whites
• Pre-heat the waffle iron and pour the batter evenly over the bottom plate
• Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the waffle turns golden brown

A Weird Dilemma
During Lindy's study abroad in Hong Kong, her first time out of the country, all of the white, American kids began shedding weight immediately and unintentionally.

The food was tasty and physically filling, but none of it was quite as calorie dense as typical dishes back home. Meals that were normally rich with sugars and fats were replaced by very large bowls of rice... delicious bowls of rice, but not particularly caloric bowls of rice.

So, Lindy found herself with an odd question: how to account for the calorie difference between a typical American meal and a typical Cantonese meal?

A Delightful Solution
The most sensible intervention Lindy found was snacking. Constantly. At every opportunity. Lindy's purse was never without dried mangoes, which, honestly, sounds wonderful.

The need to always be snacking led Lindy to discover bubble waffles.

The best bubble waffle is a bubble waffle made on demand, like the ones Lindy got daily from her bubble waffle supplier back in Hong Kong -- a nice woman with a folding table, two large pitchers full of batter, and a propane tank at the ready to bring fresh waffles to the people.

These sidewalk bubble waffles were the best ones Lindy found in Hong Kong and they only cost ≈7 Hong Kong dollars, or the equivalent of $1 USD. The lady and her folding table were conveniently located between Lindy's subway stop and hotel. Whenever the woman spotted Lindy in the distance, she would immediately begin making a waffle for her.

According to Lindy, (and now me, having had them,) the secret and true glory of bubble waffles is getting them as straight-off-the-griddle as you possibly can. Fresh, the exterior is crispy and the interior is soft and steamy. If you see bubble waffles sitting in a display case, they've cooled into mediocrity: see if they'll make some fresh for you.

They were a perfect, everyday snack for a college kid in Hong Kong: cheap, slightly sweet, easy to hold, and wonderful without the addition of messy toppings or embellishment. And they are a perfect snack now, years later, for adult friends catching up and hearing old stories as afternoon shadows glide across a luminescent kitchen island.

Recipe Notes

• Recipe makes 8-10 waffles
• While one could adorn bubble waffles with toppings like fruit or chocolate chips or some such, Lindy would never and I generally agree.
• As the waffles are ready, if they aren't immediately going into a person's hands, A) Eat Them Faster, and B) grab a bowl for each waffle, turn it upside down, and place 1 bubble waffle over each bowl. Stacking the waffles while warm will trap too much steam and make them mushy.
• Interested in trying some? Lindy suggests Tii Cup. They're always made to order, and Lindy orders them without the powdered sugar that isn't needed for taste and is unnecessarily messy.