Kam Hing Coffee Shop
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
119 Baxter Street
(Near Canal Street)
(212) 925-0425
Hours of operation: 8am-6pm
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
If you ask the locals of Chinatown, they will tell you that this coffee shop sells the best Chinese sponge cakes ever and I cannot agree with them more. Growing up in this neighborhood, my mother would take my brother and I after school to this small and old shop and order many warm and individually wrapped sponge cakes to go. Of course she also orders a cup of coffee for herself and two warm cups of milk teas for my brother and I to drink with the cakes. Those were happier and more delicious times.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop
Kam Hing Coffee Shop Store Front
Recently I was in Chinatown to meet a dear friend of mine from work. She wanted to try all the delicious food that this town has to offer and I figure that the infamous Kam Hing Coffee Shop should be the first stop because they were closing soon and it would be something that I know she will like. We walk in there around 5:50pm which was perfect because the store closes on time at 6:00pm, and was greeted by a Latino cashier who speaks fluent Cantonese. Ever since I was a child, there was always several Latino cashiers who speaks fluent Cantonese which impressed me each and every time. We were fortunate enough to order the last two cakes. The cakes are $0.60 and was $0.50 when I was a kid. Nonetheless it’s quite a bargain and you will never find a bargain like this anywhere else. Even at that time, the cakes were still nice and warm and we decided to eat it right away. While we were eating, this guy came in and ordered a cake and was disappointed with the bad news that it was all sold out. So my advice to you is to come here way before it closes because you never know.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop's Sponge Cakes
The difference between this sponge cake and the other sponge cakes in the other Chinese bakeries is that this cake is very moist, light, fluffy and slightly sweeter. You just have to try it to see the difference!
Anyways, until next time,
<3 FCG
Chinese New Year Cake – Neen Go
Pan Fried Chinese New Year Cake
Growing up, the Neen Go (Chinese New Year Cake) is pretty much one of the many star items on the dining room table. I was never attracted to the look and the taste of the cake. For such a simple and dull looking cake, as a child, I simply could not fathom why it was such an important item to have before the starting of the lunar new year. There are so many other delicious cakes, like the prosperity cupcakes, but none of them are as important as this neen go.
Neen go, which literally translated in Cantonese, “Year High” or in another words, highly prosperous year, is one of the many items offered the day before New Year’s to the Kitchen God. Yes the Kitchen God and this is the widespread belief. The new year cannot kick off to a fresh new and prosperous start without this cake. And so, a week before the new year, I decided that I would like to make this cake. I did come across with a few snafus, recipe problems not the user’s fault, and then I found the light at the end of the tunnel with the help of my dear co-worker Mei-Ling who offered me a foolproof recipe. The attempt to take on the responsibility of making this VIP cake has befuddled my sweet mother. She could not take me seriously and decided that it is better to use her inexperience hands over mine to make the cake.
Now here is the now infamous recipe from Mei Ling:
Happy Birthday Mom!
Chinese sponge cake w/kiwis and strawberries on top of whipped cream
Chinese sponge cake w/kiwis and strawberries on top of whipped cream
First cake that I made for my mom! If I had the time and energy, I would make two layers and fill it with fruits. But because I have never tried this recipe before, I wanted to play it save and stick with the one layer. This recipe was a combination between my coworkers recipe and a similar recipe that I found online both with metric and English system measurements. The cake is still in the refrigerator because I made it very late, so I hope it is edible!
My coworker’s came from this:
Mei Ling's Chinese Sponge Cake
I think somehow I messed up the recipe. But I will let you guys know. If it is successful, I will provide the recipe for the cake and the whipped cream.
Until next time,
<3 FCG
Chinese Steamed Cupcakes – Faat Go/Prosperity Cakes
:Edit:
If you happen to live in New York City and you want to try this faat go recipe, I suggest that you take a visit to Chinatown and purchase a bag of homemade “wet” rice flour which is low-gluten. I can honestly tell you that I don’t know how to make this flour but I can tell you where to buy it. Having the right kind of flour is key to your prosperity cakes.
Fong Inn Too, Inc.
Fong Inn Too Menu
Now in Cantonese it is called, “Zhi mai fun.” Once you tell the clerk that you want this, he will give you a bag of rice flour which is shown below:
Hong Kong Rice Flour
Notice that this flour is clumpy and not dry like most flours. My mother tells me that this flour is essentially rice and flour that has been fermented for two days. Unfortunately I do not possess the know how, but I can tell you how it was made.
Good luck!
***
It all started with an obsession with Chinese cupcakes. AKA faat go (or huat kueh) as you say in Cantonese. My good friend Sally over at the tastyconfection and I wanted to learn how to make Chinese cupcakes because we have always eaten them. These special cupcakes are only available in Chinese bakeries during the time of Chinese New Year since they represent prosperity and success. There’s an old Chinese proverb which my mother always says that translates, “The more the cake blossoms, the more prosperous your year will be.” Something along the lines of this. Sally and I can care less about the superstitious properties that these cakes hold and wanted to eat them whenever we wanted to. The journey to find the most successful recipe was a frustrating one.
Complicated and non-traditional prosperity cupcake recipes disappointed me. I was amazed how I could not find a good old fashion Chinese recipe. There are many Malaysian and Singaporean recipes, but they’re not the ones that I am used to having. Sally tried learning the recipe from her grandmother, but unfortunately the cupcakes’ corners did not form which is why she is uncomfortable with sharing the recipe.
Now one day, my mother decided to make these cupcakes for my father’s birthday. She got the recipe from my aunt and then a couple of hours in the kitchen, she makes this:
Steamed Chinese Cupcakes aka Faat Go
Mid-Autumn Festival: Mooncakes
The annual Mid-Autumn Festival is on Saturday October 3rd and my mother has already received a few boxes of mooncakes. Click on the above link to Wikipedia to read all about this holiday. I will write all about it on the day of the holiday. Right now I want to share a few pictures of the different kinds of mooncakes that are my personal fan favorites!
Malaysian Lotus Seed Mooncake w/one yolk: KLT Mooncake
Inside of the Malaysian Kuih Bulan Lotus Seed Mooncake
