Chinese Pie Of Suzhou Style With Sesame Filling Recipes

SESAME BALLS

Steps:

• Choose your filling-You can buy ready-made filling pastes at the Asian or Chinese grocery store, or use our lotus paste or red bean paste recipes. We used lotus paste.
• Make sesame ball dough. Place 1/2 cup (60g) glutinous rice flour and sugar in a bowl. Pour ¼ cup (60g) of boiling water into the flour and sugar. Mix with a rubber spatula until smooth. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) room temperature water and the rest of the glutinous flour (1 cup, 120g). Mix with a spatula until it forms a dough, and all the flour has been incorporated. Cover with an overturned plate or put it in a reusable silicone bag. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
• Prepare your sesame seeds by pouring them in a fine-meshed strainer and rinsing them until they're completely soaked. Let the excess water drain and place the sesame seeds on a plate. Spread them out evenly with enough space for rolling the sesame balls. You can use a paper towel if the sesame seeds are very wet. They should be moist, but not dripping wet.
• Your filling should be half the weight of your dough ball. Use your kitchen scale to measure out 8 pieces of lotus or red bean paste that weigh 24g each. Roll them into balls and set aside.
• Weigh the dough ball on a digital kitchen scale - it should weigh about 370 to 380 grams. Whatever your weight is, divide it by 8 to get the weight for each dough ball (in our case, we got 47g). Using the kitchen scale, separate the dough into 8 equal pieces, and roll them into balls. Set them aside on a plate, and cover them so they don't dry out.
• To assemble, flatten the dough ball until it is 3 inches in diameter - the middle should be slightly thicker. Place 1 ball of filling in the center of the dough, wrapping the dough around the ball. Pinch the dough together so it covers all the filling, making the thickness of the dough as even as possible. You can pinch excess dough from the point where the sesame ball is sealed to fill empty spots or reinforce areas that look thin.
• After the filling is completely covered, gently press it all together to form a ball, rolling it between the palms of your hands until the seams disappear, and you form a uniform round ball.
• Roll the ball in the moistened sesame seeds until the entire ball is thoroughly covered. Roll the ball again in your hands to press the sesame seeds into the dough and place on parchment paper until they are ready to deep-fry.
• Heat 4 cups of peanut or canola oil in a medium deep pot to a stable 320°F/160°C. (Use a thermometer for accuracy, as achieving the right oil temperature is extremely important.) The oil should fill the pot about halfway.
• Add 4 sesame balls into the oil, and immediately use a slotted spoon to gently move them in a circular motion so they do not stick to the pot. This is a necessary step throughout the entire process to ensure even frying. Don't leave them unattended. Adding the sesame balls will lower the oil temperature down below 300°F/150°C, but shouldn't take it below 290°F/143°C. Adjust the heat slightly higher or lower to maintain the oil temperature at 300°F/150°C.
• After 10 minutes, your sesame balls will begin to float to the top of the oil. Now, your technique changes to keep them rolling in the oil so all sides get the same frying time. You can also occasionally press all four sesame balls down using a slotted spoon or small spider to keep them submerged in the oil. Do this for 2-3 minutes.
• At this stage, increase the heat to bring the oil temperature gradually up to 350°F. Fry them for another 5 minutes, for a total of 17-18 minutes, or until they turn a light golden brown. This last stage of frying at a higher temperature browns them. The sesame balls will expand and grow slightly at this higher oil temperature. The outer crust is now strong enough such that they should not burst, as long as you don't have any weak or thin spots in the dough.
• Transfer the finished sesame balls to a strainer, cooling rack or plate lined with paper towels for the oil to drain. Repeat with the second batch. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

CHINESE FRIED SESAME DESSERT BALLS (JIAN DUI) RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Make the red bean filling: In a medium bowl, combine the red beans with 1 cup (240 ml) of water. Cover with plastic wrap and soak overnight.
• Drain the red beans, then transfer to a small saucepan with the remaining 3 cups (720 ml) of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and cook for 1 hour, until soft enough to mash with a fork.
• Add the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid evaporates and a thick red bean paste forms.
• Transfer the red bean paste to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the paste to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Make the dough: In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the hot water with the light brown sugar until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the glutinous rice flour to a medium bowl and use a spoon to create a small well in the center.
• Pour the sugar syrup into the well and stir for 5 minutes, until the dough is well combined and no longer sticks to the bowl.
• Lightly dust a clean surface with glutinous rice flour. Turn the dough out and knead for 5 minutes, until it forms a smooth, round ball. Use a little bit more flour or water as needed.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll the pieces into small balls, then flatten into discs about ½-inch (1 ¼ cm) thick and 2½-inches (6.5 cm) in diameter.
• Place 1 teaspoon of red bean filling in the center of a piece of dough. Fold in the edges to cover the filling, then roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the sesame seeds until the dough is covered. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot until it reaches 350°F (180°C).
• Fry the sesame balls for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

CHINESE PIE OF SUZHOU STYLE WITH SESAME FILLING

Steps:

• Mix all the ingredients of water-oiled crust together in a big bowl, knead them until they become a smooth and elastic dough. (You can do this in a bread machine).
• Put the dough in a bowl cover it with a wet cloth and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Mix the ingredients of the pastry crust in another bowl (if you use the lard, you should store the lard for this step into the fridge for 3 hour before you get start).blend them until a red dough is formed. Cover the red dough with plastic wrap and cool it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Bake the walnut and 210g sesame for filling in an oven for 10 minutes, 150 degrees Celsius.
• Heat a dry pan with low flame, then pour 230g all-purpose flour into the pan, stir the flour in the heated pan until it turns golden.
• Get the golden flower in to a container, then put 3g sesame, 3g peppercorn and 6g salt in the same heated pan. Stir fry them until you smell their fragrance.
• Put the all the sesame (213g in total), peppercorn, and salt into the food processor, break them into greasy powder.
• Pour the sesame powder into the container with golden flour, add 200g maize oil, dry grapes, honey, and baked walnut. Mix all ingredients of the filling well. Here we have our filling done
• Divide the filling evenly into 28 portions. Shape each portion of filling into balls.
• After the doughs for water-oiled crust and pastry are properly rested, place both doughs on the panel.
• Divide the dough for water-oiled crust in to 14 portions, and then do the same to the dough for pastry.
• Pair each portion of water-oiled dough with a portion of pastry dough.
• Shape each portion of pastry and water-oiled crust dough into balls.
• Roll out a portion of water-oiled crust dough in to a flat circle with a rolling pin, then rap a portion of pastry dough with the round, flat portion of water-oiled dough. Do this for the rest of the portions. (Remember! Do seal up the seal tightly!).
• Rest the wrapped doughs for 10 minutes.
• Roll out one wrapped dough, until it become a flat oval, approximately 8cm in width and 15-20cm in length. (Be careful! Do not break the outer water-oiled dough by mistake!), then roll up the flat oval along the longer side, make it a cylinder. Do all these for the rest of the warped doughs.
• Rest the cylinder-shaped dough for 10 minutes.
• Roll out one cylinder along the longer side, until it become a flat oval, approximately 5cm in width and 30 cm in length (AGAIN Be careful! Do not break the outer water-oiled dough by mistake!), then roll up the flat oval along the longer side, make it a cylinder again. Do all these for the rest of the warped doughs.
• Cut a cylinder dough into two pieces at the midpoint of the longer side with a sharp knife. If you do this correctly, you will see many red rings at the sections, just like the growth rings of a tree. Do it for the rest of each cylinder doughs.
• Place the section of one piece of dough upward, flatten the little dough slightly with you palm, and then roll it out into a flat circle, about four to five inches in diameter (if you want your pies look good, you should try you best to prevent the red rings in the middle from any distortion). Wrap a portion of filling (shaped in a ball) with the flat dough (you can cover the filling with the flat dough, place the section on the top, and wrap the filling by sealing the dough at the bottom.) Do this for the rest of the doughs and filling. Here you get the uncooked pies LOL!
• Place all the uncooked pies in to a baking tray, and then heat the oven with 170 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.
• Place the baking tray on the middle rack of oven, bake for 25 minutes with 170 degrees Celsius.
• Done! Enjoy this GREAT dessert! Remember to serve it for Chinese New Year!

CHINESE STYLE SESAME SAUCE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, mix together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in chicken broth, water, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

CHINESE PIE OF SUZHOU STYLE WITH SESAME FILLING

Steps:

• Mix all the ingredients of water-oiled crust together in a big bowl, knead them until they become a smooth and elastic dough.
• Put the dough in a bowl cover it with a wet cloth and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Mix the ingredients of the pastry crust in another bowl, blend them until a red dough is formed. Cover the red dough with plastic wrap and cool it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Bake the walnut and 210g sesame for filling in an oven for 5 minutes, 150 degrees Celsius.
• Heat a dry pan with low flame, then pour 230 g flour into the pan, stir the flour in the heated pan until it turns golden.
• Get the golden flower in to a container, then put 3g sesame, 3g peppercorn and 6g salt in the same heated pan. Stir fry them until you smell their fragrance.
• Put the all the sesame, peppercorn, and salt into the food processor, break them into greasy powder.
• Pour the sesame powder into a container, add all the golden flour, maize oil, raisins, honey, and baked walnut. Mix all ingredients of filling well.
• Divide the filling evenly into 28 portions. Shape each portion of filling into balls.
• After the doughs for water-oiled crust and pastry are properly rested, place both doughs on the panel.
• Divide the dough for water-oiled crust in to 14 portions, and then do the same to the dough for pastry.
• Pair each portion of water-oiled dough with a portion of pastry dough.
• Shape each portion of pastry and water-oiled crust dough into balls.
• Roll out a portion of water-oiled crust dough in to a flat circle with a rolling pin, then rap a portion of pastry dough with the round, flat portion of water-oiled dough. Do this for the rest of the portions. (Remember! Do seal up the seal tightly!).
• Roll out one wrapped dough, until it become a flat oval, approximately 8cm in width and 20 in length. (Be careful! Do not break the outer water-oiled dough by mistake!), then roll up the flat oval along the longer side, make it a cylinder. Do all these for the rest of the warped doughs.
• Roll out one cylinder along the longer side, until it become a flat oval, approximately 5cm in width and 30 cm in length (AGAIN Be careful! Do not break the outer water-oiled dough by mistake!), then roll up the flat oval along the longer side, make it a cylinder again. Do all these for the rest of the warped doughs.
• Cut a cylinder dough into two pieces at the midpoint of the longer side with a sharp knife. If you do this correctly, you will see many red rings at the sections, just like the growth rings of a tree. Do it for the rest of each cylinder doughs.
• Place the section of one piece of dough upward, roll it out into a flat circle, about four to five inches in diameter (if you want your mooncake look good, you should try you best to prevent the red rings in the middle from any distortion). Wrap a portion of filling (shaped in a ball) with the flat dough (you can cover the filling with the flat dough, place the section on the top, and wrap the filling by sealing the dough at the bottom.) Do this for the rest of the doughs and filling. Here you get the uncooked mooncake LOL!
• Place all the uncooked mooncake in to a baking tray, and then heat the oven with 170 degree Celsius for 5 minutes.
• Place the baking tray on the middle rack of oven, bake for 25 minutes.
• Done! Enjoy this GREAT dessert! Remember to serve it for Chinese New Year!

SALMON EN PAPILLOTE (ASIAN TWIST)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Place the spinach on the baking paper. Add the chilies, 3/4 of the mushrooms and the asparagus and season with some pepper.
• Place the salmon on top of asparagus and add the grated ginger and season with more pepper. Top the salmon with the rest of the mushrooms.
• Fold the paper over to enclose the filling. Fold in the edge to seal, leaving a gap of approx 3cm.
• Mix the wet ingredients into a 'dressing'. Adjust to taste.
• Pour the 'dressing' inside the paper through the gap. Now you can fold in the rest of the paper. The dressing will help keep the salmon moist and will add flavor to the dish.
• Place the fish on a large baking tray and bake for 12 minutes or until the salmon is just cooked. I prefer it medium done in the middle.
• Serve with a side salad.

'CHINESE' PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole with butter.
• Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir ground beef into onion, season with salt and black pepper, and cook ground beef mixture until browned and crumbly, about 10 more minutes. Drain excess grease.
• Spread cooked ground beef mixture into bottom of the prepared casserole dish; pour cream-style corn over the ground beef in a layer; top with layer of mashed potatoes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until potatoes are browned and casserole is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

SHAO BING

Steps:

• To make the roux, in a small pan over medium heat, heat the oil for 1 minute, or until the surface starts to shimmer slightly. Add the flour and, using a heatproof spatula or a small whisk, stir quickly to combine. Reduce the heat to low. Stir the mixture constantly for about 3 minutes, or until the color of the roux resembles peanut butter. Remove the pan from the heat. Continue to stir for about 1 minute, letting the residual heat from the pan brown the roux even more. Scrape the roux into a heatproof bowl and set aside.
• To make the shao bing, put the flour in a large bowl. Add the boiling water and, using a spatula or a wooden spoon, stir quickly to distribute. Add the cold water and stir to combine. As the dough forms, you can use your hands to start bringing the dough together. If it feels too dry, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm tap water. Once you've worked all the flour into the mound of dough, take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a work surface for 2 minutes, or until smooth. The dough should feel damp but not sticky.
• Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 18 inches long by 12 inches wide and ¼ inch thick; be sure the longer edge is parallel to the edge of your work surface. Stir the roux a few times. Using a spatula or large spoon, spread about 4 tablespoons of the roux on the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle the salt over the roux. (It may seem like it's too much salt but it isn't.)
• Starting from the longer edge of the rectangle, roll the dough into a cylinder, then seal the ends by pinching the edges together to create a seam. Cut the cylinder of dough into 8 equal segments.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Turn each segment of the dough so that the seam is on the bottom and the cut edge (where you see the coil of dough) is facing you. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 5 inches long by 3½ inches wide and ¼ inch thick. Flip the rectangle so that the seam side is now facing up. Trifold the rectangle as if you were folding a letter. With the folded edge perpendicular to you, roll out the dough again into a rectangle about 5 inches long by 3½ inches wide. Repeat the trifold and set aside, with the flap facing down. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
• Put the sesame seeds on a small plate. Brush a little water on the surface of each piece of dough. Dip the moistened sides into the sesame seeds. With the seed side up, roll each dough into a rectangle about 5 inches long by 3½ inches wide and ¼ inch thick. Place the bread on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the breads and bake for 4 minutes more, or until the breads puff up and have a lightly browned color on the surface.
• Remove the breads from the oven and let them cool slightly before serving.