Custard pudding

What it is

In Taiwan, pudding (布丁) means a soft-set custard of egg, milk and sugar, usually with caramel. It is close to French crème caramel and to Japanese purin. Old-style handmade versions are dense, with a strong egg flavour; factory cups are smoother and softer. Ice shops sell it as an add-on, and some restaurants make their own.

Where it came from

Pudding reached Japan with Western food in the Meiji era and came to Taiwan with the Japanese after 1895. Tainan's Yinbo (銀波) is regarded as the starting point of Taiwanese pudding. In 1939 its founder, who had learned caramel egg pudding from the Japanese, opened the Yinbo tea room on today's Kangle Street.

A large, bittersweet caramel pudding later became a fixture of upmarket wedding banquets. The first ones used duck eggs, which had a strong smell; chicken eggs took over as duck eggs grew dearer. At its peak, more than 40 Tainan banquet caterers bought their desserts from Yinbo, which also sold to fruit and ice shops. A hepatitis B scare later pushed out shared puddings in favour of single cups.

In 1984 Uni-President (統一) and Wei Chuan (味全) launched packaged puddings, made with help from Japanese food factories. Their smooth, soft texture won people over, and today most Taiwanese think first of the Uni-President cup.

How it is made

Sugar is cooked to a bittersweet caramel and poured into the mould. A mix of egg, milk and sugar goes on top. The pudding is then baked, which leaves a thin skin, or steamed. It is turned out so the caramel runs down the sides; with old metal pans, cooks pressed the top to let air in and free it. Instant pudding powders work differently and set with seaweed extract.

How to eat it

A snack or an after-meal dessert. Some shaved-ice shops sell a handmade pudding as an extra, and at Huang Family in Kaohsiung it is stood upright on top of the ice. Some restaurants make their own to end a meal. Packaged cups are the everyday version.