Hong Kong French Toast (Sai Do Si)
Thick white bread stuffed with peanut butter, dipped in egg and deep-fried until crunchy, then topped with a pat of butter and a drizzle of condensed milk, cha chaan teng style.
Hong Kong-style French toast, sai do si ("western toast"), is two slices of bread filled with peanut butter or fruit jam, dipped in beaten egg and fried, served with butter and topped with condensed milk, golden syrup or honey; Wikipedia calls it a typical offering in cha chaan teng, Hong Kong-style diners and teahouses, which now also fill it with Nutella, custard, red bean paste or salted egg yolk. The cha chaan teng itself grew up in the 1950s and 60s, when rising incomes made "Western food" affordable to working people; cheap Canto-Western cooking was called "soy sauce Western food", and many cafés grew out of bing sutt ("ice rooms") (Wikipedia:). In June 2014, milk tea, yuenyeung, the pineapple bun and the egg tart were listed in Hong Kong's first Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory; French toast was not among them.
This is French toast filtered through Hong Kong's take on Western cafés: deep-fried instead of pan-fried, peanut butter inside, and condensed milk instead of maple syrup.
Why it works the kitchen science
Deep-frying a thin egg coat
A light dip, not a soak, means the egg fries into a crisp shell in hot oil while the bread inside stays soft and fluffy (SBS).
Fat and sugar on top
Cold butter melting into hot toast with sticky condensed milk is the cha chaan teng finish; the peanut butter inside goes warm and runny.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cut a deep slit into one side of each bread piece to make a pocket, without cutting through. Spread about 2 tbsp peanut butter inside each pocket and press it closed.
- Step 2
Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 350°F. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan.
- Step 3
Beat the eggs in a wide bowl. Dip one or two pieces at a time, turning to coat every side lightly; let the extra drip off.
- Step 4
Lower the pieces into the oil, away from you, and fry 3 to 4 minutes, turning once or twice, until deep golden and crunchy all over. The egg coating should be completely set.
- Step 5
Drain on the rack. Let the oil come back to 350°F before the next batch.
- Step 6
Put each piece on a plate, top with a piece of butter and drizzle with condensed milk. Serve right away while it's crunchy.
Hong Kong French Toast (Sai Do Si)
Serves 4 · 4 thick pieces · 30 min total
Toast
- 1 unsliced loaf of white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cut into 4 pieces 2 inches thick
- Scant 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 5 large eggs
For frying
- Vegetable oil, about 2 inches deep in a heavy saucepan
To serve
- 3 tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (or honey or golden syrup)
Method
- Cut a deep slit into one side of each bread piece to make a pocket, without cutting through. Spread about 2 tbsp peanut butter inside each pocket and press it closed.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 350°F. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan.
- Beat the eggs in a wide bowl. Dip one or two pieces at a time, turning to coat every side lightly; let the extra drip off.
- Lower the pieces into the oil, away from you, and fry 3 to 4 minutes, turning once or twice, until deep golden and crunchy all over. The egg coating should be completely set.
- Drain on the rack. Let the oil come back to 350°F before the next batch.
- Put each piece on a plate, top with a piece of butter and drizzle with condensed milk. Serve right away while it's crunchy.
Adapted from Adam Liaw, "Hong Kong-style French toast", SBS Food, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw (published March 30, 2023), scaled from 5 servings to 4. SBS cuts a crustless white loaf into 5 cm pieces with a peanut butter pocket and deep-fries them at 180°C (we say 350°F) with no frying time given; the 3 to 4 minutes is ours. For 4 we use a scant 1/2 cup peanut butter (SBS: 140 g for 5), 5 eggs (SBS: 6) and 3 tbsp butter (SBS: 50 g). Wikipedia's classic version is a two-slice sandwich; see Tips. sbs.com.au. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Classic shape: Wikipedia describes two slices sandwiched with peanut butter. Make sandwiches of 1-inch slices, press the edges, and dip and fry them the same way.
- Other fillings from Wikipedia: fruit jam, kaya, meat floss or Ovaltine.
- Serve with Hong Kong milk tea for the full cha chaan teng order.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Sai do si means "western toast". Documented (Wikipedia).
- It must be deep-fried. Disputed: SBS deep-fries; Tasting Table describes it as shallow-fried (search summary only). Both are common.
- Peanut butter is the classic filling. Documented: Wikipedia names peanut butter or jam.
- It dates to the 1950s. Folklore: a University of Hong Kong student project page says so; we found no reputable dated source.
- Cha chaan teng is a UNESCO heritage item. Documented as not so: Wikipedia says it was proposed in 2007 but not added; Hong Kong's own 2014 inventory lists milk tea, yuenyeung, the pineapple bun and the egg tart.
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