(Photo/Weibo of People's Daily Online)
Step aside, brightly frosted cronut (croissant-doughnut), juice diet and kale craze! Social media users have crowned their new "it" food of 2016.
Food trends hit us all the time in the age of social media, although most don't last. Nevertheless, they allow food brands and businesses to see the consumers' growing appetite for change and that helps them respond quickly with new ideas.
Let's take a look at some of this year's delicacies that created most buzz on social media at home and abroad.
1. Ada Scallion Pancake
Shanghai's Ada Scallion Pancake shop is back after solving the licensing issue. The shop made global headlines earlier this year after being featured on a BBC food show. Expect long lines, and you are only allowed to buy a maximum of two pancakes each time!
2. Coffee in a cone
Talking about East meets West, China's crispy scallion pancake actually goes very well with coffee. And now imagine a cone filled with steaming hot coffee, does it make breakfast or street snack experience more "likeable" on social media? According to CNN, coffee in a cone has been one of the most popular foods in New York, and nearly 1 million images with the #coffeeinacone hash tag had been liked on Instagram within five months after it was introduced in January.
3. Russian ice creams
Ice creams made in Russia became popular in China after Russian President Vladimir Putin brought them as a gift for President Xi Jinping during the G20 summit in Hangzhou in September. And Xi, turned out to be a fan of it. Well, it seems he is not the only fan of the Russian delicacy.
4. Honeycomb briquette cakes
Made with black rice and chocolate, the cakes look exactly like honeycomb briquettes. Bizarre foods never fail to catch people's attention on social media.
5. Freakshake
The freakshake is another extreme-foodie trends in New York that says the more toppings, the tastier. The indulgent giant dribbling ice cream is topped with cake, brownies, crushed cookies, marshmallows and sauces. Some people say it is an upgraded mile shake, and we think it is more like a shake meal.
6. Bizarre flavored ice cream
You might have had ice creams around the world, but have you tried the flavor of yellow wine, sweet potato and pepper? Chinese businessmen's imagination never disappoints you!
7. Hawaiian poke bowl
The healthy cubed raw fish topped poke bowl has caught the attention of people in big US cities recently, although it has been Hawaii people's favorite food for centuries.
8. Cruffin
Cronut (croissant-doughnut) is out and here comes the latest favorite pastry of New York City– cruffin, the hybrid of a croissant, and a muffin. This buttery and flaky pastry is perfect for breakfast and afternoon tea.
9. Egg yolk and pork floss green rice ball
This traditional sweet snack of Qingming Festival suddenly became hot word on Chinese social media when a Shanghai restaurant filled the rice ball with salty egg yolk and pork floss this April. The restaurant offered a limited number of 3,000 rice balls each day around the festival and drew people to queue every day.
10．Macaroni ice cream sandwich
Macaroni looks pretty and ice cream tastes yummy, which makes macaroni ice cream sandwich pretty yummy, right?
