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In Sheung Wan, a tiny eatery has people queuing for airy bubble waffles crowned with the crispy, buttery crust of a pineapple bun – two Hong Kong classics fused into a viral snack by 21-year-old entrepreneur Natalie Lau Sze-wai.
Videos of the pineapple bun egg waffles have racked up millions of views online since Lau’s charity cafe, Chicken Egg Boy, had its grand opening last April.
Part of a new wave of young Hongkongers reimagining the city’s culinary staples, Lau’s playful creation has also won hearts around the world. Her pineapple bun egg waffle has inspired recreations by home chefs and restaurants in Macau, Singapore, Britain and the United States.
“I just hope that I’m still able to pay respect to the two original forms but also bring something new and fresh to the Hong Kong food scene,” Lau said.
“The biggest achievement so far is how far this has reached globally – seeing people from so many countries coming to try this. It’s a great way to spread culture and knowledge about Hong Kong.”
Ultimately, Lau sees her creation as more than just a quirky mash-up.
“Hong Kong is such a multicultural, international city,” she said. “So, this dish isn’t just fun to eat. It’s a reflection of Hong Kong: playful, innovative and a blend of worlds.”
Secrets behind the perfect texture
What looks like a simple mash-up of foods actually required extensive precision and problem solving.
Lau said perfecting her “double crispy recipe” took more than 10 iterations. Months of experimentation with timing and temperature went into finding the snack’s delicate balance of textures and flavours.
“The hardest part wasn’t perfecting it once. It was replicating success consistently,” she said. “I had to hunt for invisible factors, adjust and retest.”
Quality control, she said, was the most challenging part of the process. Even minor variables, like flour absorbing Hong Kong’s humidity overnight, could throw off the results.
The waffle base must be slightly undercooked since it will be baked again with the pineapple crust in the oven. Each segment of pineapple bun crust has to be uniform in thickness to ensure even baking. The snack’s time in the oven needs to be precise.
Most people might not realise that Lau’s precision did not start in the kitchen – it started in the lab.
Science, especially biology, had been Lau’s first passion. She even pictured a future in research labs.
But in 2024, her worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms made formal lab work impossible to sustain.
So cooking became an outlet. Lau started practising precise measurement techniques like pipetting with everyday ingredients such as sugar, water and flour.
“It was in these moments that I discovered the similarities between cooking and lab work, and that sparked my passion for culinary innovation,” Lau said.
Never a dull day
Lau’s role as creative director varies from one day to the next.
“The most hectic period was right after we went viral,” she recalled.
“We didn’t even have enough people in the kitchen, so I’d be back there making pineapple bun egg waffles. When the kitchen had enough hands, I’d step outside to help with crowd control.”
Training new staff is another key part of her role because she wants to make sure the shop’s standards stay consistent.
Leading under pressure, she admitted, was not easy. In the early days, her perfectionism made it challenging. But with time, she has learned to let go.
Balancing business with purpose is also crucial to Lau’s approach.
All profits from Chicken Egg Boy support underprivileged communities in Hong Kong and preserve local cultural heritage through the Xu Shan Charitable Foundation.
Lau also explained that she tried to create job opportunities for young people from less privileged backgrounds since this position working with a labour-intensive product could help them access more career paths in the future.
“Sometimes, I have to choose between hiring someone who might pick up the skills faster and someone who really needs the opportunity,” she noted. “But that’s a balance worth striking.”
Though the shop’s social mission is important, Lau insisted that the products must stand on their own.
“We never wanted the charity aspect to be the sole reason people come in,” she said. “The goal is for people to visit because they love the product and the experience, with the added bonus that their purchase helps the community.”
For young people hoping to launch their own creative ventures, her advice is simple.
“Life is unpredictable, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she said. “Sometimes, what’s ahead can be even better than what you originally imagined.”
