A new generation of chocolates inspired by South-East Asia.
Our experience
Last year, we made it our mission to seek out lesser known dessert spots in NYC. So far, we have featured a multitude of specialty dessert shops offering tres leches cake, tofu pudding, sweet baos, Georgian desserts, Japanese cheese tarts, Portuguese custard tarts, Thai desserts, Indonesian murtabak, Vietnamese cookies, an array of Filipino desserts (see here, here and here) and a lot of Malaysian kuih (see here, here and here). Today, allow us to introduce you to a rather unique chocolatier that very recently, quietly opened in Canal Street Market.
Although for such a large city, there is a general absence of artisan chocolatiers in NYC, through tours of uptown Manhattan, East Village, Soho and Flatiron, our favourite chocolatiers so far are Stick with Me, Chocolate Moderne, Gabriel Kreuther, and Mariebelle. And now, add to that list, Daniel Corpuz’s chocolates. Mr. Corpuz recently opened a storefront inside a corner of Canal Street Market, offering chocolates crafted as a petite dome or a short cylinder. Drawing from his Asian heritage, his chocolates are distinguishable for their particular infusion of Asian flavours. On the day of our visit, there were over 15 flavours available, of which we sampled six flavours:
- “Soy Sauce Caramel” — our favourite of Corpuz’s chocolates, this chocolate possessed the strongest flavour profile, and reminded us a little of hard coconut candies we once had on childhood holidays in South-East Asia.
- “Sakura Tea” / “Black Sesame” / “Oolong Tea” — Corpuz’s three tea-flavoured chocolates were a close second favourite, with the sakura being the most delicately scented, and the black sesame and oolong featuring their characteristic earthy tones.
- “Pandan” / “Yakult” — these two morsels were the most subtle. The “Pandan” featured a slight herbaceous note typical of the ingredient, and the “Yakult”‘s silky filling was of a soft sweet, milky tone.
Our verdict
In the last decade of munching our way through all the desserts of the world, only on one other occasion have we come across a chocolatier injecting Asian flavours into chocolates. That was Jade Chocolate in San Francisco. Daniel Corpuz’s chocolates, with their South-East Asian heritage and flavour profiles, are not only part of an ever-growing South-East Asian dessert trend in NYC that we have been tracing the last year on this dessert blog, but are indeed, truly something special.
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Daniel Corpuz Chocolates, Canal Street Market, Soho/Chinatown, Manhattan.
- ☑ Budget: $$-$$$ (6 pieces came to just under USD $30 after tax).
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: Chocolate.
- ☑ Must-eat: The “Soy Sauce Caramel“.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: A new generation of chocolates inspired by South-East Asia.
Dessert Correspondents 