Best Asian Desserts in Orange County: A Flavor Guide
Orange County is one of the best places in the country to eat Asian desserts. Diamond Jamboree in Irvine, the plazas along Brookhurst in Garden Grove and Westminster, and the tea shops scattered through Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley cover almost everything. What is harder is figuring out what to order if you have never had taro before, or if you are dairy free and half the menu is off limits.
This is a plain guide to the five flavors that come up most, what they taste like, and how to find a version that fits your diet.
Taro
What it is: a starchy root vegetable, steamed and mashed until it turns velvety. The purple color you see in boba shops is usually food coloring or a powder mix. Real taro is closer to pale grey lavender.
What it tastes like: nutty, faintly floral, mildly sweet. Closer to chestnut or sweet potato than to anything fruit flavored. If you have only had taro powder in milk tea, real steamed taro is a different experience.
Dairy free notes: taro itself is plant based, but taro drinks and desserts are usually made with condensed milk or a creamer that contains milk derivatives. Ask. Our Taro-ble to Resist uses real steamed taro over coconut, no dairy at all.
Black sesame
What it is: sesame seeds roasted and stone ground into a paste. It is one of the oldest dessert flavors in Chinese cooking, usually served as a hot soup or as a filling in tang yuan.
What it tastes like: toasty, deep, a little savory. Most first timers say it reminds them of cookies and cream, which is a fair comparison for the roasted depth.
Where OC does it well: the soft serve and mochi shops around Diamond Jamboree, and most Japanese dessert cafes in Irvine and Costa Mesa. Ours is the top selling flavor we make, which surprised us too.
Matcha
What it is: green tea leaves shade grown, then stone ground into powder. Grade matters enormously. Ceremonial grade is smooth with a clean finish. Culinary grade is what most sweetened matcha drinks use, and it is why a lot of matcha dessert tastes dusty.
What it tastes like: grassy, with a pleasant bitterness and an umami finish. Good matcha does not need much sugar.
How to order well: if a menu says ceremonial grade, that is a good sign. If the matcha dessert is bright neon green and very sweet, it is probably a mix. We are a Match-a uses ceremonial grade matcha from Uji, Japan.
Vietnamese coffee
What it is: dark roast coffee brewed slowly through a small metal filter called a phin, traditionally served over sweetened condensed milk. Orange County has one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the world, so this is a local specialty here in a way it is not in most of the country.
What it tastes like: bold and dark with a caramel edge. Much stronger than drip coffee.
Dairy free notes: the traditional version is built on condensed milk, so it is not vegan. Ask for it black, or look for coconut versions. Depresso? Espresso is our plant based take, with coconut standing in for the condensed milk.
Peach gum
What it is: the resin that forms on peach trees, dried into amber crystals and then soaked and stewed until it swells into a soft jelly. It has been used in Chinese cooking for a very long time and is having a moment again.
What it tastes like: almost nothing on its own, which is the point. It carries whatever it is stewed with and adds a bouncy, melt in mouth texture. Usually it comes with jujube and rock sugar.
Where to find it: harder than the others. Some herbal dessert shops in Garden Grove and Westminster make it fresh. Our Golden Jelly Elixir is a limited edition version with peach gum and jujube on coconut.
If you are dairy free, this is the short version
Most Asian desserts start plant based and then get dairy added at the last step, usually as condensed milk, creamer or a powder mix. Gelatin is the other common issue in anything jelly textured. Two questions cover almost everything: is there condensed milk or creamer in it, and is it set with gelatin or agar.
Every KOKONUT flavor answers both the way you want. Set with agar agar, no dairy, no gelatin, no soy, no gluten.
Where to try KOKONUT in Orange County
Qin West Noodle in Irvine, Nook Coffee in Costa Mesa, Oniguru in Garden Grove and Mission Viejo, 949 Grill Lounge in Santa Ana, and Nori Giri in San Clemente. Full list on the store locator, or read the Orange County guide.
