Snacks of the World: Taiwan’s I-Mei Milk Puffs Love a Little Freezer Time

Ever had a snack blow your mind as a child? It happened to me back in the early ’90s. I was visiting my relatives in Taiwan and my grandma plopped a couple packets of I-Mei Milk Puffs in front of my sister, my cousins and me. Two minutes later, they were both gone. Upon returning to America, I constantly harassed my parents to get some more, still chasing that first bite.

At that time, those golden puffs were only available in Taiwan – the supply chain and demand for them hadn’t yet made it off the small island. If you wanted them, you either had to make tiny profiteroles from scratch or go without. A few years later, we’d heard that I-Mei had made its way to Canada. So, whenever my family went to Toronto, we’d buy a carton to bring home. I was over the moon when the brand finally made its way to Michigan by the end of the decade.

Today, I-Mei Milk Puffs are one of Taiwan’s most beloved snacks. BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Cardi B have both been spotted with them, and visitors to the island often take them home as a souvenir. Luckily for us, since the late 2010s they’ve become more common in Asian grocers in Australia. (If you have a hard time finding them, though, a good alternative is South Korea’s Haitai Homerun Ball.)

These bite-sized delights – about the size of your thumb – are deceptively light. Crisp, flaky puff pastry is filled with a smooth, custard-like (but not too sweet) cream filling. When the products first hit shelves in the ’80s, they came in three flavours that remain crowd favourites today: milk, chocolate, and strawberry. The milk flavour has a gentle hint of vanilla, while chocolate is rich and Nutella-like. Strawberry is the sweetest, and really captures the essence of the fruit.

These things are the perfect little afternoon treat. Sure, you could snack on them straight out of the packet. But why not get creative? Add them to a frappe for some extra indulgence, or do as the Taiwanese do and pop them in the freezer. The filling firms up into an ice cream-like centre, giving them a whole other dimension of yum.

I-Mei is a true powerhouse in Taiwan’s food industry. The brand was founded as a bakery in 1934 and expanded in 1955 by establishing its own dairy farms to provide fresh milk to its customers and for use in various products. By the 1970s, they’d evolved into a major food manufacturer, producing a range of popular domestic snacks.

I-Mei Milk Puffs recently went viral in the States when Target started stocking them. Here’s hoping they hit Target’s Australian shelves soon – it’ll be a bullseye.

This is the second edition of Snacks of the World, a series about snacks you can find at your local international grocer.