Kaya toast a big contender as a food trend in 2020

The previous year saw the rise and continuing growth of the bubble tea empire. Salted-egg flavoured goods remained popular while bubble-tea fusions ranged from strangely delicious to outright bizarre.

Food experts from The New York Times predict that the Asian ‘brick toast’ will gain popularity as crowds fly to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics. Singapore’s own kaya toast was mentioned as a possible contender due to its similarity to Japan’s Shibuya toast.

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Shibuya Toast @afteryoudessertcafe definitely a dessert not to miss. It's a really milky toast, toasted (and stuffed) with a lot of butter served with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Total indulgence! Thanks @arshitabkapoor for the recommendation ?❤️ #carbsoncarbs #itsaholiday #weEat #dessert #postdinner #nottomiss #yum #recommendation #bangakokfood #thailand #eeeeeats #shibuyatoast #afteryoudessert #indulge #mouthwatering #instagood #instagood #dessertporn #toast #butterisalwaysagoodidea

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Healthier food alternatives also became more popular, and experts predict that people will continue to seek more environmentally-conscious food choices in 2020.

Artificial meat options are predicted to become even more available to fast-food chains, as more people opt for vegan ‘meat’ proteins made from wheat or mushrooms for greener, more sustainable consumption.

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The demand for vegan ‘milk’ and nut butter options made from oats, cashews, and almonds are also on the rise and are considered by a growing number of young consumers as better, healthier alternatives to animal by-products.

Data from food review aggregator Yelp along with insight from food experts from the US National Restaurant Association and Michigan State University showed that mocktails, cold brew coffee, and fermented beverages like kombucha will be “all the rage” this year.

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Making our mixing kombuchas is a process of division, regrowth and a 3 week wait. We find them a very versatile ingredient that binds and stretches other flavours in a cocktail out, similar to how we use sherry, sake and vermouth. . The freshly formed culture (scoby) from an old batch can be sliced up to start new batches. Hit us up if you want a slice, it's hard to contain their growth ? . Here, we made a batch of rowanberry (Vogelbeere) ? infused kombucha with a sweetened black tea base, on menu in a drink coming week. . Our tea base recipe goes as follows, all adapted from @manuteefaktur, from whom we also sourced our 1st scoby. If you wanna learn more, go check out their workshops! . Per 1 liter of water (scalable) add – 10 g tea (green, black, white) – 80 g sugar – Bring to a boil together, simmer for 30 minutes – Strain out the tea leaves and chill to minimum 30°C before continuing . Then, for a fresh kombucha batch, we combine 1 part old kombucha liquid (to give the culture a "friendly" environment that will kickstart the fermentation) and 4 parts of the freshly brewed sweetened tea. . Add to a jar, add kombucha scoby (both newly formed and old ones is what we do), cover with tightened towel (to keep fruit flies away but let gases out and oxygen in), then store in a dark but not too cool place for 3 weeks. A new culture will form on top of your fresh batch. . When finished, strain, bottle and refridgerate, then start a new batch. Do not keep bottles unrefridgerated as they run the danger of exploding through excess gas – unless you know how to do a 2nd fermentation for nice fizz in the bottle. . For variations, try using other aromatic dried leaves than tea, but be prepared that it can work less well and kill the used scoby. Woodruff was mindblowingly good for us. #kombuchalove . ? by @sarah.swantje.fischer ? rowanberries sourced from Hof Land & Scheune, Prignitz

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Other experts predict that with Classic Blue being the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2020, more blue-hued foods like the sweet root crop ube and the purple spinach orach will be the year’s trendiest ingredients.

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@allthingsubedesserts makes cheesecake thickkkkk! ? Available in a 9 inch round. #ubecheesecake #ubeyummy #ubecake #ubeloves #ubedessert #ubeisnottaro #ubelovers #ubethecrave #ubeyum #ubepure #ubelicious #allthingubedessert #allthingsube #allthingsubesd #atu #ube #sandiegodesserts #ubesandiego

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Additionally, Korean cuisine is also predicted to get even bigger in 2020.

Lastly, with the boom of food delivery technologies last year, advancements in artificial technology will also be recommending tailored food choices in the same way people get video or content suggestions on social media.

In 2019, Singapore was introduced to the services of the laksa robot chef. Grab also promised a bubble tea subscription service. But with all these developments in food technology, people have yet to fully experience futuristic food delivery through drones. Will 2020 finally be the year in which drones deliver a bowl of piping-hot laksa to one’s doorstep?/TISG