With One Canned Ingredient, You'll Never Eat Toast The Same Way Again

Toast, that quintessential building block of a well-rounded breakfast, has always shone best when paired with something sweet. Honey or jelly may be the condiments most often found alongside your golden points of crispy bread, but why stop there? Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, fancies cinnamon-sugar toast in the oven as a snack. And you've undoubtedly heard of fairy bread, the quirky Australian and Kiwi staple consisting of buttered toast served with a thick coating of multicolored sprinkles. Turns out, however, that the Hong Kong diaspora was quietly enjoying a different kind of sugary toast treat this whole time: fluffy white bread covered in sweetened condensed milk.

Found in Hong Kong cafes and often referred to as cha chaan teng, toast with sweetened condensed milk is a treat that's simple yet widely beloved. At its core, it has two ingredients — three if you butter the toast first, as many do — but countless spinoffs will allow you to customize your new favorite snack to your heart's content.

If you are short on time or inspiration, you can simply pour the canned sweetened condensed milk onto your toast (dry or buttered) like syrup. But there's no need to settle for such a basic preparation every time. Try an Asian spin on peanut butter and jelly by covering your toast in a schmear of peanut butter and dousing it in sweetened condensed milk instead of jam or preserves. You can eat this open-faced or smoosh two slices together to make a dainty sandwich. Or make French toast with thick slices of brioche, then smother them in condensed milk instead of maple syrup. 

The key to the perfect sweetened condensed milk toast is a really nice, fluffy white bread. In this particular instance, an enriched white bread is going to shine. Classic Chinese milk bread would be the traditional choice, but try it out with challah, Hawaiian rolls, or even a regular old white sandwich loaf. This makes a delicious breakfast, but it's also perfect as a light pick-me-up when you are feeling snacky.