杏仁酥 hang jan sou are crumbly crunchy almond cookies with a salty-sweet contrast in flavour that I adore. These cookies could pass off as western snacks (西餅) but they are very much considered Chinese (中餅).
Hang jan sou are often handed out as gifts during festive periods, such as Chinese New Year, which is why I guess they come in the most environmentally unfriendly packaging ever.
I bought these cookies at Loon Fung supermarket in London's Chinatown, where a single pack of ten cost £1.59, or you can do as I did and buy two packs for £2. If you see them then I do recommend buying a pack – they make a great snack.
For those keen bakers out there, Pig Pig's Corner has a great recipe for these cookies. If you like almonds then there's another famous Chinese snack you could try called 杏仁餅 hang jan beng. And finally, if walnuts are more your thing then there's a similar cookie called 合桃酥 hap tou sou.
When I initially read the title, I thought that you have ventured into baking! Love almond cookies, they are my favourite.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at almond and cookie - a perfect combination in any culture!
ReplyDeleteJust a quick recommendation that if you are after almond cookies then do try the famous Koi Kee branded ones. They are the best but in London, you pay for it with it being roughly £5-8 a box! You can taste the difference though. Well, I can!
ReplyDeleteMy children love these cookies!
ReplyDeleteNo, seriously they do..........
Kay - the last time I made biscuits, it was at school! My God, that was in...
ReplyDeleteGChick - these cookies reminded me how much I I love almonds.
Thebao - thanks for the tip. These sound like proper posh cookies.
Food Urchin - word is that your missus and your kids shared half a cookie, because the rest of the cookies I gave you were stolen by a pickpocket on the train home. Hmm...
I can say, from experience, that both Mrs Grubworm and I enjoyed these cookies (and Food Urchin, Mrs GW got a whole cookie...). They're really very similar to macaroons - a spreading idea, or one of those times where people from different parts of the world come up with the same answer to the question of what to do with almonds?
ReplyDeleteDamn, if only I had lard in the house I would make these right now. I don't usually like sweet things, but I love salty-sweet peanut cookies, and I like almonds more than peanuts so these sound like a winner.
ReplyDeleteGoddamn I could go for a whole box of these right now!
ReplyDeleteGworm - the Chinese love almonds, and I reckon the Portuguese taught them baking. And a cookie was born!
ReplyDeletekake - salty-sweet is the best!
catty - oh yes!
Nothing like almond cookies ..... The best ......
ReplyDeleteMzungu - aren't they just
ReplyDelete