Deep-Fried Milk Diamonds

One of the most interesting and fascinating dishes I have encountered in Hong Kong is the so-called deep-fried milk. Milk custard is lightly battered and deep-fried. The result is a crisp exterior with a creamy, custardy interior, a combination of textures that appeals to the Chinese taste. How milk got into Hong Kong cuisine is an intriguing question. The most plausible theory is that the Western-influenced milk dishes started with the Portuguese of Macao in the sixteenth century and later