aka 奶黃流心西多士 (lai-wong-lau-sum-sai-dor-see). Hong Kong style French toast is amazing, but have you ever had CUSTARD LAVA french toast? This version only requires you to pan fry the French toast, instead of the traditional deep frying method.
Hong Kong style French toast is already a very popular item in cha chaan tengs (Hong Kong style cafes), but suddenly one day, a restaurant in Hong Kong called “Chau Kee” came up with a “Golden Lava French Toast” dish and it blew up on the internet years ago.
The traditional method is to deep fry the entire French toast, but I didn’t want to use a lot of oil, so I discovered pan frying it also produces the same result.
Look at that perfect golden colour. Make sure to pan fry all four sides for that nice and crispy look.
Learn from my mistakes:
Pan fry this on LOW HEAT. I repeat – LOW HEAT. Impatient me was pan frying it over medium-high heat and it made my French toast burnt.
Instead of custard, you can also switch the filling to be anything else that you’d like (e.g. peanut butter, jam, Nutella, black sesame paste, etc).
If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!
Hong Kong Style Custard Lava French Toast
Ingredients
Custard Filling
- 2 tbsp condensed milk
- 2 tsp cake flour
- 100 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Custard Lava French Toast
- 2 slices of bread (preferably thick)
- Custard Filling from above (cooled)
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter (for cooking)
Instructions
Custard Filling
- In a bowl, mix together the condensed milk and cake flour until no lumps remain. Set aside.
- Heat up the milk and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour the hot milk into the condensed milk flour mixture and mix well.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and add in the butter. Stir constantly over low heat until it starts to thicken.
- Pour into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap - make sure to press down the plastic wrap onto the custard to prevent the top from drying out. Refrigerate.
Custard Lava French Toast
- Spread the cooled custard all over one piece of bread, while putting more in the centre. Place the other slice on top, press down, and seal all the sides together tightly (to prevent the custard from falling out when cooking).
- In a wide dish, whisk together the egg and milk.
- Soak the “sandwich” in the mixture for a minute, flip, and do the same for the other side and also the 4 sides.
- Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Fry the bread for about 2 minutes on each side (don’t forget about the 4 sides too).
- Then turn off the heat, and cover for a few minutes (to ensure that the filling will flow out like lava). Plate, slice, and enjoy!
