Egging for more

Here's a frivolous and fascinating factoid. If there's one thing our office never runs out of, it's these absolutely yummy little creations called egg tarts. (Ok, that's another thing our office never runs out of. The other thing is smart-alecky wisecracks from co-workers. But that's another story.) Since I joined this office, there would always be an ubiquitous pink box scattered around somewhere. Open that ubiquitous pink box and you'll find a dozen egg tarts. And once the scent of egg tarts waft out of the ubiquitous pink box, you can expect people to just gather round and start talking and snacking away.

I think egg tarts are Hong Kong's version of the water cooler. (Although we do have our own water cooler.) It's a reason for people to converge, hang around and exchange stories. More than once every week, you can see people happily chatting away with an egg tart in hand. And I must say, once I have an egg tart, I'd be happy, too.

There are only two words to describe these tarts: YUM. MY! The crust is so soft and flaky that they almost disintegrate once it gets in your mouth. It has the right amount of saltiness to balance out the sweetness of the filling. And the filling! It's like leche flan, albeit not so sweet. It has that perfect blend of softness and firmness. No wonder it's HK's favorite tea time fare.

It's funny because i'm raving about this particular egg tart, and it's not even the best that this country has to offer. The famous egg tart in HK is the one in Central, and was the personal favorite of Lord Chris Patten - HK's last British leader. Haven't tried that yet, and once I do, i'm sure that the experience will go straight to print here.

In the meantime, let me enjoy my egg tart and cold water. Oh wait, I should scoot over and join my colleagues. I wouldn't want to miss the deliciously evil stories that often comes with it.