Growing up in Hong Kong, we ate a lot of different types of Chinese pastry. My favorite one is the one with a thousand year old egg in it (I know, you're grossing out). I couldn't find a recipe for that, so I decided to make this Mung bean pastry from Cafe of the East. Cafe of the East is a great blog!! Whenever I want to make an Asian desserts, I always search there first. It's no longer active, the new blog is Corner Cafe.
I have to warn you, this is a very time consuming recipe. I made the filling a few days ago, and didn't make the pastry dough until last night. The filling took me a long time to make. The hardest part was pressing the mung bean paste through the sieve. I must have been doing that for at least two hours!!
The dough itself was pretty straight forward. But it took a long time to create the combine the water dough and the oil dough. I guess you can call this procedure the Chinese laminated dough. =P
In the end, this labor of love was worth it. My parents raved about the pastry. It was very flaky and I was so happy to see all those layers. It actually reminds me of the lima bean manju from Maui. Next time, I will try the pastry dough with a red bean filling. Maybe one day, I will be able to make the thousand year old egg pastry, anyone have a recipe?
I have to warn you, this is a very time consuming recipe. I made the filling a few days ago, and didn't make the pastry dough until last night. The filling took me a long time to make. The hardest part was pressing the mung bean paste through the sieve. I must have been doing that for at least two hours!!
The dough itself was pretty straight forward. But it took a long time to create the combine the water dough and the oil dough. I guess you can call this procedure the Chinese laminated dough. =P
In the end, this labor of love was worth it. My parents raved about the pastry. It was very flaky and I was so happy to see all those layers. It actually reminds me of the lima bean manju from Maui. Next time, I will try the pastry dough with a red bean filling. Maybe one day, I will be able to make the thousand year old egg pastry, anyone have a recipe?
from Cafe of the East
Makes 20.
Water Dough
100g bread flour, sifted
100g cake flour, sifted
70g lard (or shortening, or unsalted butter), softened
20g icing sugar
100ml water
Lard Dough
120g cake flour, sifted
60g lard (or shortening, or ghee), softened
Filling:
400g Mung Bean Paste (see recipe below)
To Finish:
1 egg, lightly beaten for eggwash
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, for sprinkling as topping
Water Dough:
1. Rub lard into the sifted flours, then add the remaining ingredients and mix to form a soft dough, you may need to adjust the amount of water depending on the water absorbency of the flour used. Knead until smooth. Wrap in cling film and set aside for 15 - 20 minutes before using.
Lard Dough:
1. Rub lard into the cake flour and knead until the dough has approximately the
same pliability/malleability as the Water Dough.
To make Chinese Puff Pastry:
Divide the Water dough and the Lard Dough respectively into 20 equal portions. Take one portion of the Lard Dough piece and wrap it inside a Water Dough piece. Roll the combined dough piece out into a thin flat sheet using a rolling pin. With your hand, roll the thin sheet up, Swiss-roll styled, into a cigar shape. Turn the cigar 90° so that one of the round ends faces you. With the rolling pin, roll it out into a flat sheet again. Then roll it up Swiss-roll styled again. Roughly round the roll-up dough piece into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces until you get 20 combined dough balls (see note).
To make Puffs:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide the filling into 20 equal portions, 20g each.
2. Roll out or press each dough ball into a round flat disc, with the outer edges slightly thinner than the center. Wrap one portion of the filling inside each portion of the flat dough. Seal up tightly by pressing the edges together to enclose the filling. Place the puff, seal side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest until finished.
3. Glaze the puffs with eggwash. Sprinkle a little sesame seeds on top of each puff. Bake for about 18 - 20 minutes, or until light golden in color.
1. Rub lard into the sifted flours, then add the remaining ingredients and mix to form a soft dough, you may need to adjust the amount of water depending on the water absorbency of the flour used. Knead until smooth. Wrap in cling film and set aside for 15 - 20 minutes before using.
Lard Dough:
1. Rub lard into the cake flour and knead until the dough has approximately the
same pliability/malleability as the Water Dough.
To make Chinese Puff Pastry:
Divide the Water dough and the Lard Dough respectively into 20 equal portions. Take one portion of the Lard Dough piece and wrap it inside a Water Dough piece. Roll the combined dough piece out into a thin flat sheet using a rolling pin. With your hand, roll the thin sheet up, Swiss-roll styled, into a cigar shape. Turn the cigar 90° so that one of the round ends faces you. With the rolling pin, roll it out into a flat sheet again. Then roll it up Swiss-roll styled again. Roughly round the roll-up dough piece into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces until you get 20 combined dough balls (see note).
To make Puffs:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide the filling into 20 equal portions, 20g each.
2. Roll out or press each dough ball into a round flat disc, with the outer edges slightly thinner than the center. Wrap one portion of the filling inside each portion of the flat dough. Seal up tightly by pressing the edges together to enclose the filling. Place the puff, seal side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest until finished.
3. Glaze the puffs with eggwash. Sprinkle a little sesame seeds on top of each puff. Bake for about 18 - 20 minutes, or until light golden in color.
adapted from Cafe of the East
150g skinless, split mung beans
37g lard, or canola/corn oil
1/4 cup shallots (or 1 medium onion if shallots are unavailable), sliced
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
1/8 teaspoon five-spice powder (optional)
80g white sugar (see note)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Soak mung beans in enough water to cover for at least 2-4 hours. Drain.
2. Place the drained mung beans in a large plate that can fit into the steamer/wok, spread out the beans into an even layer. Rapidly boil water in a steamer/wok, steam the mung beans until soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove beans from steamer and press through a sieve to remove any hard particles, this process will also produce a very fine paste.
4. Melt lard (or oil) in a wok, add sliced shallots and cook over low heat until golden brown and aromatic, about 10-20 minutes. Drain and remove the golden brown shallots for other use. Return the flavored oil to the wok.
5. Add sesame oil and five-spice powder, cook over low heat briefly until aromatic. Add the sieved bean paste, sugar and salt. Turn heat up to medium/med-high and stir-fry until thick and the bean paste can stand in peaks. Cool.
Notes:
2. Place the drained mung beans in a large plate that can fit into the steamer/wok, spread out the beans into an even layer. Rapidly boil water in a steamer/wok, steam the mung beans until soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Remove beans from steamer and press through a sieve to remove any hard particles, this process will also produce a very fine paste.
4. Melt lard (or oil) in a wok, add sliced shallots and cook over low heat until golden brown and aromatic, about 10-20 minutes. Drain and remove the golden brown shallots for other use. Return the flavored oil to the wok.
5. Add sesame oil and five-spice powder, cook over low heat briefly until aromatic. Add the sieved bean paste, sugar and salt. Turn heat up to medium/med-high and stir-fry until thick and the bean paste can stand in peaks. Cool.
Notes:
- *Go to Cafe of the East for step by step instruction on how to make the dough.
- *I made half the recipe for the mung bean paste, and it was just enough filling for the dough.
- *I lowered the amount of sugar, the original was 90g. I thought it was just the right amount of sweetness.
2 comments:
thanks for the information about the Mung Bean paste. it was really great!
I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for stopping by. =)
Post a Comment