Lifestyle

Timeless Chinoy desserts for you to indulge in

Nothing screams indulgence more than our favorite sweets! 

In celebration of the holiday season, we’re looking to bring out the best of both our worlds with some classic Chinoy desserts. Why not check out these heavenly treats?

 

1. Buchi

These golden sesame balls are probably some of the easiest desserts you can find — and for good reason! Essentially, buchi are the quintessential Chinoy dessert.

Historically, buchi are the Filipino adaptation of jiandui (煎䭔), a type of Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. The dessert is traditionally made by shaping balls of dough stuffed with a sweet filling, such as lotus, peanut, black, or red bean paste, before coating them with sesame seeds. They are then finally fried to a savory-sweet perfection, ready to serve as snacks or end-of-the-meal sweets!

 

Buchi. Source: Foxy Folksy.

 

2. Tikoy 

If you’re Chinoy, at some point in your life, someone has probably asked you if you love tikoy. And truthfully, we can see why — it’s an easy treat to love!

Although you can find tikoy all-year-round, the dessert is most often associated with Chinese New Year due to its lucky name. In Mandarin, tikoy is actually read as niangao (年糕), which can be taken to mean “to get higher year-by-year.” This makes it the ideal gift to give! Not only can you give out delicious glutinous rice cakes to your friends and family, but you can also simultaneously send them well wishes for wealth and fortune.

 

Peanut Tikoy Rolls. Source: Ang Sarap.

 

3. Turon

Did you know that turon actually has some Chinese origins? We bet you didn’t!

In truth, it’s not that hard of a connection to make. Turon, after all, is also known as lumpiang saging, and lumpia is as Chinoy a dish as can be. According to history, many believe that turon’s roots can be traced to the presence of Chinese communities in the Philippines even before the country had been colonized by Spain. This means then that we have our centuries-old ancestors to thank for this timeless banana dessert! 

 

Turon. Source: Ang Sarap.

 

4. Almond Jelly

If you’re scrolling through a menu of a local Chinese restaurant, you may find almond jelly to be a rather vague name to label a dessert, but worry not! Almond jelly, aka annin tofu, is a fairly popular dessert in Asia, especially for places with established Chinese communities. Here in the Philippines, the gelatin is often mixed with a fruit cocktail, making it a colorful and refreshing dessert for Chinese resto diners to enjoy. 

 

Almond Jelly. Source: Kawaling Pinoy.

 

5. Mango Sago

In all honesty, with its tropical ingredients of mango and coconut milk, it’s easy to believe this dessert to be a strictly Filipino one. Google, however, proves this assumption wrong. 

Mango sago actually finds its origins in 1984, when the popular Hong Kong restaurant Lei Garden opened its first branch in Singapore. Although the Filipino version of the dish typically uses mangoes as its sole fruit, the original recipe also added pomelo into the mix, inspired by the tropical fruit selection that Singapore had to offer. Since its introduction, mango pomelo sago has soared in popularity and can now be found in Chinese restaurants all over the world, including the Philippines.

 

Mango sago. Source: The Woks of Life

 

Like this article? Why not check out our list of lucky Chinese dishes for the New Year!

 

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