Macau Travel: Macau's Six Best Street-Food Snacks

A mix of Chinese and Portuguese influences have created a special street-food culture in Macau. Here’s are six snacks to try - or bring back as gifts for friends and colleagues to show you know your stuff.

Koi Kee Bakery at Sendao Square

Kok Li-hou's famous pork chop buns have been selling out from her shop, Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei for 20 years.

1. Pork chop bun - a piece of bone-in chop on a bun sounds simple, but the humble shack, Café Tai Lei Loi Kei (18, Largo Governardor Tamagnigi Barbosa, Tayopa) turned the basic staple into a cultural institution with a marinated tender meat on a crusty chewy bun. It’s a snack but it’s filling.

Portuguese egg tarts

2. Portuguese egg tart - Unlike the Hong Kong version, the Macanese tart should have a caramelised top like a crème brûlée. The concept was pioneered by Lord Stow’s Bakery (there are various franchise locations, but the original is at Coloane Town Square, No 1 Rua Da Tassara) whose founder was British.

Almond cookies

3. Almond cookies - explore any back street and alley and you’ll find small bakeries producing this type of fragrant and powdery Chinese confection. Inevitably, there will be other biscuits and nut flavoured cookies produced and sold on the premises. Look for the shops around St Paul’s Ruins to see the bakers at work. One of the best is Koi Kee Bakery (locations include 1 Rua Felcidade 70-72, R/C. Tel: 853 2893 8102)

Steamed milk pudding

4. Ginger milk pudding - Chinese desserts are often warm and liquid. Yee Shun Milk Company makes several milky sweet soups, but the ginger juice infused thick milk is zesty and zingy even to those who normally don’t like lactose-based treats. If you’re okay with milk, also try the more basic steamed milk pudding. (7 Senado Square, Tel: 853 2857 3638)

5. Jerky meat (bakkwa) - a Chinese treat also found in Singapore and Malaysia. Pork and beef are salted, seasoned (chilli or sweet) and dried into sheets of rich tasty decadence. A popular outlet for Chinese meat jerky is Choi Heong Yuen Bakery (28E Rua de S Paulo) which offers many flavours.

6. Serradura - The layered pudding nicknamed “sawdust” is a Macau original, created using a simple combination of custard, biscuits and crumbs for that sawdust look. It’s the standard dessert at many restaurants, but you can also find a simplified version for enjoying on the street. Try Gelatina Mok Yi Kei (9A Rua da Cunha, Vila de Taipa; Tel: 853 6669 5194) for a takeout version.