Rethink Your Favorites
Let's be honest—apple pie is comfort food, but it's rarely exciting. Meanwhile, Asian desserts are out here making clouds you can eat and turning purple yams into Instagram-worthy masterpieces. Street vendors and trendy cafés across the continent have perfected treats that balance texture, sweetness, and surprise in ways that'll make you rethink everything. Your taste buds deserve this adventure, so here are 20 unmissable Asian desserts to try out.
1. Japanese Soufflé Pancakes
Picture biting into a cloud that somehow tastes like heaven—that's what Japanese soufflé pancakes feel like. These jiggly, towering beauties became a viral sensation around 2014 when cafés like Happy Pancake and Gram Cafe in Tokyo started serving them.
2. Mochi Donuts
The bubble-ring shape of mochi donuts is actually inspired by Japan's famous "pon de ring" from Mister Donut. What makes these donuts irresistible is their unique dual texture: crispy and golden on the outside while maintaining that signature mochi chewiness inside.
3. Korean Bingsu
Long before it became an Instagram phenomenon, bingsu evolved from a simple Joseon-era treat of crushed ice with fruit into Korea's most beloved summer dessert. The game-changer came when cafés started using frozen milk instead of water-based ice.
Likeboss lertpongsaporn on Pexels
4. Mango Sticky Rice
Thailand's traditional dessert, khao niew mamuang, reaches its peak perfection during mango season from March to June. That's when Nam Dok Mai mangoes are at their sweetest and most aromatic. Ataulfo mangoes also work as excellent substitutes outside Thailand.
Augustinus Martinus Noppé on Pexels
5. Halo-Halo
The name literally means "mix-mix" in Tagalog, and this Filipino shaved ice dessert is exactly that—a glorious jumble of sweetened beans, jellies, fruits, and ice cream that you stir together before eating.
6. Taiyaki
These fish-shaped cakes, swimming with sweet fillings, have been a Japanese street food staple since store owner Seijiro Kobe created them in the early 1900s. Taiyakis were originally stuffed with sweet red bean paste (anko). The batter resembles pancake mix.
7. Ube Halaya
Making authentic ube halaya from scratch is labor-intensive: purple yams are boiled until soft, mashed into a smooth puree, then cooked slowly with butter, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and sugar while stirring constantly to prevent burning. The mixture thickens over time.
8. Bubble Tea
Taiwan's accidental 1980s invention at Chun Shui Tang tea shop in Taichung has conquered the world. The signature tapioca pearls—made from cassava starch—are boiled until they achieve the perfect QQ texture (a Taiwanese term for springy chewiness), then often soaked in brown sugar syrup.
9. Tanghulu
These candied fruits on sticks create the most satisfying ASMR crunch when you bite through their glossy sugar shell into juicy strawberries, grapes, or tangerines underneath. Originally a northern Chinese street snack featuring hawthorn berries, tanghulu has exploded across social media.
10. Hong Kong Egg Tarts
These golden custard tarts earned a spot on Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage list, cementing their status as more than just a beloved dim sum staple—they're cultural icons. The journey began in Guangzhou during the 1940s, inspired by English custard tarts.
11. Japanese Cheesecake
The jiggly wobble of this cheesecake when you tap the pan isn't a flaw—it's exactly what makes Japanese cheesecake so mesmerizing and different from dense New York-style versions. This cloud-like creation uses significantly less cream cheese and flour than Western cheesecakes.
12. Mochi Ice Cream
Mikawaya's Frances Hashimoto and her husband Joel Friedman pioneered the modern version in 1990s Los Angeles. Each ball features premium ice cream encased in a thin layer of pounded sweet rice (mochi), creating a chewy outer shell that contrasts beautifully with the cold, creamy center.
13. Pandan Chiffon Cake
That vibrant green color comes naturally from chlorophyll in fresh or frozen pandan leaves, which are blended with water and strained to prepare the fragrant juice that flavors the batter. While Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean versions stay simple and unadorned, Filipino variations add coconut cream layers.
14. Matcha Tiramisu
Traditional Italian tiramisu gets a sophisticated Japanese makeover when earthy matcha powder replaces espresso. The slight bitterness of ceremonial-grade matcha (ideally from Kyoto's Uji region) cuts through the sweetness of mascarpone cream, offering a more balanced flavor profile than the coffee-spiked original.
15. Hong Kong French Toast
Deep-fried instead of pan-cooked, stuffed with peanut butter or kaya, and served drowning in golden syrup and butter—Hong Kong French toast is a Western breakfast gone indulgently wrong in all the right ways. This afternoon tea staple is found at every cha chaan teng.
16. Hokkaido Cheese Tarts
The volcanic eruption of creamy cheese filling from these bite-sized tarts, when you bite into them, created a dessert craze that swept across Asia starting in the 2010s. Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, famous for premium dairy products, lends its name to these tarts.
17. Strawberry Mochi
Wrapping ripe strawberries in sweet red bean paste and pillowy mochi dough gives daifuku ichigo, a springtime Japanese treat that's as beautiful as it is delicious. The traditional preparation involves pounding steamed glutinous rice until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough.
18. Black Sesame Ice Cream
Nutty, smoky, and subtly bitter, black sesame ice cream is a grown-up dessert that trades loud sweetness for depth. Popular across Japan, China, and Korea, it’s made from toasted black sesame seeds ground into a paste, giving it a gray-black color.
Jamie from Toronto, ON on Wikimedia
19. Vietnamese Che
This umbrella term covers dozens of Vietnamese sweet soups and pudding-like desserts, served hot or cold, layered with ingredients ranging from beans and jellies to tropical fruits and coconut milk. The beauty lies in customization. Vendors typically have ten to fifteen ingredients displayed.
20. Dorayaki
Doraemon's obsessive love for these treats cannot be forgotten. The pancake batter contains honey and mirin (sweet rice wine), giving them a subtle sweetness and helping form that characteristic golden-brown surface with tiny bubbles when cooked on a griddle. Traditional fillings use anko.
KEEP ON READING
