Here in the states, Krispy Kreme celebrated their 81st birthday by giving away a box of donuts for $1 and throwing confetti into their Original Glaze.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Krispy Kreme Japan is celebrating something else — the diversity of Asian desserts, according to Sora News.
As a way to taste the different decadent offerings across Asia, Krispy Kreme released a limited menu called Tasty Asian Sweets.
Photo: Krispy Kreme Japan
This menu offers items inspired by the desserts of countries like Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Here’s a look at what treats are being highlighted.
Hong Kong Almond Tofu
Inspired by the Japanese dessert “Almond Tofu,” this donut is filled with a milky cream that’s similar in texture to the bean curd. The donut is glazed in white chocolate and topped with tiny flecks of gold powder and pieces of dried goji berries.
Thai Mango Cheesecake
Mango flavored Cheesecake is a pretty well-known dessert in Thailand, so this donut encompasses all those elements. Stuffed with a cheesecake-flavored cream, the breakfast pastry is coated with a frosting made from pureed Alphonso Mango.
Vietnamese Che
One of Vietnam’s most traditional dessert drinks Che is a blend of diced fruits, jellies, and beans. This donut is topped with a lychee and strawberry glaze and garnished with chunks of dragonfruit and mango pieces.
Taiwan Pineapple Cake
The Feng Li Su（凤梨酥）Pineapple Cake is a popular pastry in Taiwan and this Taiwan Pineapple Cake doughnut draws heavily from just that. The dough is made with powdered cream cheese and pineapple sauce.
Alongside these dessert offerings, Krispy Kreme is also serving up a donut that’s on the more savory side.
Thai Spicy Green Curry
Don’t order this donut expecting something sweet. The Thai Spicy Green Curry donut falls more on the savory side. Stuffed with a chicken and eggplant filling that’s combined with coconut milk and fish sauce, the donut is a hot and spicy pastry more in line with a curry sandwich.
All of the donuts are available now at Krispy Kreme locations in Japan through September.
Sure, we can lay claim to the Cronut (croissant donut) and Milky Bun (ice cream stuffed donut) as some of the craziest desserts to hail from the United States in recent memory. While our country is churning out fantastic and bizarre sweets week after week, our neighbors to the East have also been crushing it for centuries.
Check out some of the most unique desserts enjoyed in Asia that you may not even have heard of.
A classic Thai dessert, Khanom Chan literally translates to “layered dessert.” Similar to Woon Bai Toey (sweet coconut milk and pandan jelly), Khanam Chan boasts a gelatinous taste. Made from pandan leaves, sticky rice flour, and coconut milk, the dish is steamed and stacked together in multiple layers. Nine, a number of prosperity, is usually the amount of layers seen in the dessert.
The process of making Luk Chup is a bit tedious: grinding steamed mung beans into a paste, molding them into the shape of fruit, coloring them, and finally glazing them in gelatin. Still, once you’ve accomplished all those steps, you’re left with a plateful of vibrant desserts that look like candy versions of the real thing, each complete with different layers of flavor and textures originally intended for Thai royalty.
A classic Chinese dessert that can most commonly be found during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mooncakes are pastries filled with red bean or lotus seed paste. Each mooncake is imprinted with a variety of Chinese characters that stand for either “longevity” or “harmony.” You can also find the name of the bakery inside each cake.
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Also known as Broken Glass Gelatin, this vibrant dessert in the Philippines is made from condensed milk and a variety of colored Jello. Once it’s finished, it resembes “Broken Glass” or the stained windows of a majestic cathedral.
Woon Bai Toey
Made from the aromatic pandan leaf and coconut, Woon Bai Toey is a Thai gelatin dessert that boasts a creamy and nutty flavor with a chewy texture. The dessert typically follows a spicy Thai dish to help refresh the palate. FoodTravelTVEnglish shows you the step-by-step process to create this dessert.
A dessert soup or pudding that’s found in Vietnam, che is made from mung beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, tapioca, jelly, and aloe vera. Che Ba Mau is a variation of the dish that is comprised of three main ingredients as Ba Mau translates to “three colors.” Choice of beans vary as long as the three colors are distinct.
In the Philippines, leche flan is a celebrated dessert that originated as a Spanish dish. Made with condensed milk and egg yolk, the sweet dessert is steamed over an open flame. Unlike the Spanish variation of flan, the one served in the Philippines is much more rich — featuring more egg yolks and sugar.
Yagkwa
A deep-fried Korean pastry, Yagkwa is made with wheat flour, honey, and sesame oil. Yagkwa originated as a medicinal cookie that’s soaked in honey. Because of how much honey it contains and being deep fried at low temperatures of 248-284 degrees F, the pastry is both moist and soft when you bite into it. ARIRANG CULTURE did a recipe video for those curious.
Patbingsu, or “red beans shaved ice,” is a Korean dessert made of shaved ice, ice cream, condensed milk, red beans, and fruit. The earliest known variation of the dessert dates back to the year 1392. Today, you can find the cold dessert at most Korean restaurants and dessert spots specializing in the icy treat, adorned with chopped bits of fruit and plenty of syrup.
A type of wagashi (a Japanese confection), higashi is made with rice flour. Featuring intricate designs, the sweet and starchy dessert can typically be found during tea ceremonies. The creation of wagashi desserts came after China began producing sugar and traded it with Japan.
A highly popular dessert that started out in Japan, the Raindrop Cake became immensely popular among social media stateside once it debuted at New York food market Smorgasburg by Chef Darren Wong. Made from water and agar, a vegan sort of gelatin, the cake resembles a giant raindrop. Typically, raindrop cakes are served with a roasted soybean flour and molasses or honey to add flavor.
Known for their fluffiness and distinct jiggle, Uncle Tetsu’s Cheesecakes started in Japan over 30 years ago. These cheesecakes are made up of flour, eggs, cream cheese, sugar, baking powder, honey, butter, milk, and a special Australian cheese. The result is a super soft, rich, and flavorful cheesecake that’s got as much moves as a bowl of Jello! Uncle Tetsu’s Cheesecakes became so popular that multiple franchises have sprouted all over the world to cater to the popularity of these moist wonders.
There’s no way to beat around the bush, there’s a reason why Hooters Girls wear skin-tight tank tops and booty shorts ⸺ because sex sells. The cleavage-heavy tops have become part of their identity, but it looks like they’re starting to veer toward a more modest approach.
The president of Hooters Asia said its current six restaurants, and its anticipated 30 future locations across the continent will be more family-friendly. With a more conservative outlook, the new uniforms will feature longer skirts and higher necklines, according to Channel News Asia.
“We are still Hooters, but we recognize that if we want to be a part of the community, we have to adapt to be embraced,” Neil Bailey, the president of Hooters Asia told Channel News Asia.
This is a pretty big shakeup that probably wouldn’t fly in the U.S., but you never know, we might someday see Hooters as a family-first, kid-friendly establishment. Stranger things have happened.
Indecision can sometimes be the bane of fast food. It would be so much easier if robots could pick and choose what we wanted to eat before we wasted any more time in contemplation.
Mashable reports that a partnership between Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chinese search engine company Baidu is creating a “smart restaurant” concept in Beijing. Thus putting the whole robots choosing what you eat thing in a whole new light.
Beijing’s new restaurant features kiosks that will scan a customer’s face, making menu suggestions based on their age, gender, and mood they’re currently in. The tech will store facial scans and make future suggestions for repeat customers based on things they’ve ordered in the past.
The point, according to TechCrunch, is to guess what the customer wants before they even have to ask. So far, one concept is slated to open in the near future, with no official release date as of yet.
Are you ready for restaurants to eventually know your every food preference?
A tiny nine-seater noodle shop in Tokyo, Japan made international headlines in December 2015 after earning a star from the highly respected Michelin Guide. Next month, Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta, the first and only Michelin-starred ramen eatery in the world, will open its first branch in Singapore.
Tsuta Singapore is aiming to duplicate the success of the original store in Tokyo which sees a long queue of customers hours before it opens. Tickets are sold to patrons as early as 6 a.m. which are then quickly sold out by 8 a.m., three hours before the 11 a.m. opening.
A variety of soup bases are available to choose from: shoyu soba which features a soy broth; shio soba, which has a salty broth made from Okinawan sea salt; and miso.
Founded by ramen master Yuki Onishi, the Soba Noodles Tsuta noodle shop is home to meals prepared with freshly-made noodles and carefully selected ingredients. He is set to oversee the Singapore branch to ensure that similar standards are maintained, reports the Straits Times.
According to Michelin Singapore, the proposal to expand the business in Singapore began with one stranger’s message on Facebook. It read: “We would love to tell the world about your ramen. Have you ever thought about opening a restaurant outside of Japan…in Singapore?”
Chef Onishi recalled what piqued his interest, “I had never particularly thought of expanding abroad, but what distinguished the Singapore partner was simply the fact that he came, got in line, and actually ate my food. The other people who said they were interested in Tsuta didn’t do that.”
The partner from Singapore turned out to be from the same firm that partnered with the one-Michelin-starred Hong Kong dim sum chain Tim Ho Wan.
The new Soba Noodles Tsuta, which is set to house 18 seats, will be situated at the Pacific Plaza, at the heart of Singapore’s shopping district.
Even though Shanghai’s Disneyland is still not open yet (just one more week), tourists, who presumably got hungry after trashing the place, are now complaining about the “outrageous” prices of theme park food.
Shanghai Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse-head baozi, a steamed bun snack, costs 35 yuan each, or around $5.30 while a bottle of water costs 10 yuan, or about $1.50.
While the prices actually seem reasonable by theme park standards, many, who perhaps thought they’d find a good deal at a theme park whose only purpose is to collect cash, were unhappy and even claimed that prices were cheaper at Tokyo’s Disneyland.
Fortunately, the internet had a slew of all-too-true comments on the subject:
Starbucks is topping chunks of honeycomb crunch on their drinks. At least, in Hong Kong they are. The two new beverages are called Honeycomb Crunch Frappuccinos, Brand Eating reports.
A popular candy in the UK and Hong Kong, honeycomb crunch features a sweet flavor combined with a honeycomb appearance.
The Frappuccinos are available in two flavors: Orange and Mocha. The Mocha Frappuccino is the same recipe as its US variant, while Orange is a creme Frappuccino blended with an orange sauce. Both drinks are only available for a limited time in Hong Kong and Asia Pacific countries like South Korea and Thailand.
Yet another overseas fast-food item we’d love to get our hands on.
Sure, Japan has tons of Hello Kitty inspired dining. However, Hong Kong will have the first official Hello Kitty Dim Sum joint. After tedious negotiations with parent company Sanrio, a Chinese restauranteur Man Kwong received permission to use the adorable cartoon cat’s likeness in his dim sum dishes.
Each dish had to be approved by Sanrio before even being considered for the menu. It took an entire year of back-and-forth between the restaurant and the executives approving all 37 menu items.
The dim sum dishes include adorable white, pink and black dumplings, steamed meats shaped like the iconic feline and many other Sanrio-themed dishes.
The restaurant is set to open its doors in Hong Kong on June 1.
Photo: Krispy Kreme Japan
