Misadventure 2 - Bubble Waffles aka Eggette aka 鷄蛋仔

Hera here, for this misadventure, we'll be trying our hand at making Bubble Waffles that one can find at night markets and bubble tea shops.  For those that haven't tried or seen it, www.21food.com has provided us with this:

It's basically a crepe-like batter made mostly of egg and it's usually poured in a bubble waffle iron (looks just like a waffle iron but the divots are bigger and deeper).  They taste like crepe but thicker and more eggy but much lighter than eggos.  Nowadays, like bubble tea, various flavours such as matcha green tea, chocolate, strawberry, etc. have been developed.

We've pretty much lived with these since kids, and I have come upon a recipe that I had found in a old newspaper clipping that my dad would frequently cut out but never bother to try.  Sorry, there's no source for the recipe, but we did take a photo of it and yes it's in Chinese, but I'm sure we can all use Google translate.  The original recipe listed an insane amount of ingredients so we will be down-sizing it to make 1 bubble waffle iron per trial.

From Hong Kong Newspaper - Maybe Sing Tao?

Original Recipe:

1 catty* flour

1 catty sugar

1 catty egg (with shell approximately 12 - 13 eggs by weight)

2 Tbsp baking powder

2 Tbsp oil

*According to wikipedia.org, a catty is a "traditional Chinese unit of mass...traditionally equivalent to around 1 ¹/₃ pound avoirdupois, formalised as 604.78982 grammes in Hong Kong."  Since the source was from a Hong Kong newspaper, I would suggest going with grammes.

So without further ado, I'll hand it over to our typist, BeaPea.

Trial 1 (Downsized from original Recipe)

2 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp sugar

½ Tbsp baking powder

½ Tbsp oil

1 egg

As usual this is going well. Today is special because Culverin is in charge of the actual cooking, ie he is closest to the fire and will be flipping the waffle mechanism. 

We have brushed this with oil to avoid sticking.

A mess is almost guaranteed. If we're lucky maybe we will get to meet some firemen. There is already 'banter' about how to cook this. Arguments abound about when to flip the waffle iron. The batter has been compared to a stream, how beautiful. 

Hera has a lot of faith in Culverin's abilities, “after a few times I'm sure we'll get better at this” she says. Culverin just said he wanted Hera to take the waffle iron from him then promptly finished with “I'm already tired”. I think we know who wears the pants. It is about halfway through the recommended cooking time, and we can smell the egg. 

Megaspoot is hoping it will not taste like scrambled egg. Culverin thinks it is burnt. Drumroll please, it is opening time... 

One side is darker than the other. There is some debate as to whether it is cooked or not. Tastes like little pockets of bread says Megaspoot. 

Opinions are being flung back and forth about next batch. It is decided to decrease the baking powder, add evaporated milk and add more oil.

Megaspoot: They made little tendrils and the bubbles popped.

Culverin: We need more gluteniness.

BeaPea: It tastes like sponge cake with crispy bits on the sides. Definitely not there yet.

Trial 2

2 Tbsp flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp evaporated milk

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

Hera's kitchen is starting to take on the appearance of a mini lab. Logistics is a popular topic at the moment. Comparing our 'technique' to that of bubble tea places. So far the consensus is that they are messier than we are because they can be. The batter is thinner this time around, more like crepe batter says Guimauve. Megaspoot has concerns about how well it will stay in the waffle maker. Culverin pours the batter. The iron sizzles. The batter completely fills the little divots. This may indeed be messy. Especially because Culverin is doing the flipping. 

There are concerns that the temperature is too high. Smells like burning. Culverin opened the iron already, apparently it looks better. 

Texture looks better they say, 'eggier'.

Megaspoot: it tastes like custard, creamy. Maybe too much milk.

Hera: it's too soft, too much liquid.

Guimauve: it's sweeter.

Megaspoot: let’s let them cool, see if the texture changes.

BeaPea: It is definitely sweeter, creamier, with a very obvious note of burning.

Megaspoot is comparing this yorkshire pudding. Culverin's internet research has yielded the use of tapioca powder to add a bit of chewiness, or corn starch and baking soda. He also confirmed that other people use evaporated milk. Hera says corn starch and baking soda is the same as baking powder, so we're counting that as done. Hera thinks she has some, so that will be the next batch if she can find it. Guimauve thinks glutinous rice flour might work as well. Hera's dad is joining in on the discussion adding that corn starch is the same as tapioca flour or at least have the same effect. No tapioca powder, so let's see how corn starch works.

Trial 3

2 Tbsp flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp custard powder

½ tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp evaporated milk

½ Tbsp oil

1 egg

Less sizzle this time. Hopefully less burning too. 

Megaspoot is now flipping, Culverin is pouring. He missed 2 rows of egg divots. Hera keeps muttering 'it's OK'. Third trial and we're getting lazy, or forgetful, no one set a timer this time. We will say we are getting experienced. Or cocky. We'll find out. So far, it's not burning, but it appears to be puffing. 

This has been going pretty well so far, no one has been seriously burnt, no fires have been started, no batter has spilled and nothing has been broken. Hurrah! There are again bubbles in the bubbles. 

We are anticipating this to be the texture of sponge cake again. The scienticians are wanting to do this systematically, removing or adding one ingredient at a time. Culverin would prefer not. It is smelling like Malaysian cake apparently, but one side looks smoother, so appearance-wise, it looks more like it. 

It even tastes like Malaysian cake. Hera has noticed we appear to be making every other dessert possible, just not bubble waffles. Next.

Trial 4

2 Tbsp flour

3 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp corn starch

A pinch of baking powder

1 Tbsp evaporated milk

½ Tbsp oil

1 egg

The ingredient lists are starting to become quite elaborate. There is a brief break while the iron is cleaned. As the last batch cools, the texture changes adding a slight crunch and making it lighter but more spongy as well. There is division among the tasters, Culverin would like to add more sugar, but the girls are already finding it too sweet.

This batch has already been mixed, but the next one may have less sugar. Culverin's boredom is starting to shine through as he toasts a fry on the iron as it heats up. New batch is on, time is set... Iron has been flipped... Lid was lifted ever so slightly, egg looks smooth, but colour is still light. Need more time to caramelize the sugar. Another flip and a peak shows a browner exterior.

 One more flip and hopefully it will be done. It still smells very cakey though. One side is a bit burnt. Evenness is becoming a problem. They're starting to look more like eggs. One small step. It's still cakey but definitely crispier.

Trial 5

2 tbs flour

2 tbs sugar

½ tsp corn starch

1 tsp custard powder

4 tsp evaporated milk

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

This time we are changing ingredient list as well as technique. Megaspoot is going to attempt to flip it right after it's been poured.  He is adamant that it will not spill out, he was right! It has been flipped and no batter has spilled out. We have decided to completely cut baking powder from all future recipes to prevent the bubbly, cakey texture. Again we have forgotten to time. There's excitement in the air. Culverin is fanning vigorously and Hera is yelling out 'oh yeah, oh yeah'. 

It's still not being very evenly cooked, but again we are optimistic from its appearance. The texture is a bit better. We even have the little fold that ends up in some of the purchased ones. The consensus is that we should try a different flour. Hera is pulling out the glutinous rice flour.

Trial 6

1 ½ Tbsp all purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar

½ Tbsp glutinous rice flour

½ tsp corn starch

1 tsp custard powder

6 tsp evaporated milk

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

This will be our final trial tonight. Hopefully it will turn out. Cleaning has commenced. Culverin has been put in charge of flipping intermittently. This batch has puffed up the iron. 

So far last batch (Trial #5) appears to be a success. 

Interior of Trial #5

Trial #5: We even managed to get them to stay together in one big waffle as opposed to a lot of little eggs. 

So far it's looking and smelling good. It's not the prettiest batch but hopefully it'll taste good. Unfortunately this batch tastes a bit like scrambled egg again. Somehow we've replaced cakeiness with scrambled egginess. 

But it definitely has the characteristic appearance of the store bought versions. 

Megaspoot is hypothesizing that we are over-filling the pan. Next time he would like to only fill the iron half way then flip. The night has been capped off with Megaspoot spilling dish detergent all over the floor. 'It shoots out like as jet!' Final picture, starting from the 12 o'clock position, going clockwise it is trials 1-6.

Final tally:

Trial 1: tastes like sponge cake with crispy sides, slightly burnt

Trial 2: texture too soft, sweeter, more yellow colour

Trial 3: smoother texture, lighter in colour, more spongy with slight crunch, a tad too sweet

Trial 4: crispier, still cakey

Trial 5: can remove as whole waffle; texture looks like store-bought ---> most successful

Trial 6: can remove as whole waffle, tastes like scrambled eggs

Recipe Comparison:

Ingredients	Trial 1 (Original)	Trial 2	Trial 3	Trial 4	Trial 5	Trial 6
Flour	2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	1 ½ Tbsp
Sugar	2 Tbsp	3 Tbsp	3 Tbsp	3 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp
Egg	1	1	1	1	1	1
Oil	½ Tbsp	1 Tbsp	½ Tbsp	½ Tbsp	1 Tbsp	1 Tbsp
Baking Powder	½ Tbsp		½ tsp	Pinch
Evaporated Milk		1 Tbsp	1 Tbsp	1 Tbsp	4 tsp	6 tsp
Custard Powder			1 tsp		1 tsp	1 tsp
Cornstarch				½ tsp	½ tsp	½ tsp
Glutinous Rice Flour						½ Tbsp