Mung Bean Puffed Pastries Recipes

BANH PIA - MOONCAKE

Steps:

• Put a medium sized mixing bowl on the kitchen scales. Measure and add the dough ingredients one at a time. The weight after adding each ingredient in the order of the recipe is 200 gm, 270 gm, 305 gm and 350 gm.
• Use a wooden spoon to combine and then knead with your hands for 5 minutes.
• Cover the dough with cling wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Put a mixing bowl on kitchen scales. Measure and add the dough ingredients one at a time. The weight after adding each ingredient in the order of the recipe is 150 gm and 195 gm.
• Use a wooden spoon to combine and then knead with your hands for 5 minutes.
• Cover the dough with cling wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
• In a pot on medium heat, add the mung bean, water and salt. Cook for roughly 30 minutes or until the mung bean becomes soft. Be sure to stir the mung bean to avoid burning once most of the moisture has been absorbed or evaporated.
• Add the sugar to the mung bean and use a stick blender / food processor to blitz until smooth.
• Heat a non-stick pan over medium-low heat and add the mung bean puree. Cook and continuously stir for 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, make the thickener by combining the cornflour, glutinous flour and water.
• Add the thickener to the mung bean one third at a time. After each time stir until completely mixed through before adding more.
• Add the oil and cook for roughly another 10 - 15 minutes or until the mixture combines and becomes nearly thick like play dough but a bit softer.
• Once done, take off the heat and stir through the vanilla and chopped candied winter melon. Allow to cool.
• Once cool enough to handle, roll the mung bean filling into balls of roughly 80 gm each. Put it in fridge covered until needed.
• Weigh the outer dough and divide it into 10 equal portions. They should be roughly be 35 gm each. Keep the dough covered with a tea towel to avoid them drying out.
• Repeat with the inner dough. They should be roughly 19 gm each.
• Please refer to the pictures and instructions above to wrap the moon cakes.
• Preheat the oven to 200 C / 392 F fan forced.
• Line a baking tray with baking paper and bake the cakes for 15 minutes upside down at 200 C / 392 F fan forced.
• Take the cakes out and flip them over. Brush the egg wash over top of the cakes.
• Bake the cakes for another 5 minutes at 200 C / 392 F fan forced.
• Take them out and let them cool on a rack.
• Store them in the fridge uncovered for 1 -2 days before eating.

MUNG BEAN HOPIA - FILIPINO CHINESE PASTRY

Steps:

• **One 14-oz package of dried peeled split yellow mung beans makes 35 hopia. Dough recipe is for 18 hopia. It is best to cook the entire package and freeze the unused portion**.
• MUNG BEAN PASTE FILLING.
• In medium glass bowl, soak beans in water for 4 hours at room temperature. You can soak overnight, but place bowl in fridge to prevent bean sprouting.
• After soaking, drain yellow water and rinse beans well. Transfer beans to medium saucepan, add fresh water about 1/8-inch above beans, and bring to boil. When beans start to soften, scoop out foamy water on top and reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking into a paste, stirring often to prevent burning. Use a wooden spoon to mash down the beans in the saucepan.
• When only a few intact beans remain, remove from heat and transfer paste into a microwave-proof dish or bowl. Use a potato masher to mash down the paste until very smooth. A food processor might be easier, but I haven't tried that yet.
• Sprinkle the salt over the paste and mix well. Then add the sugar gradually, adjusting to taste. When sweet enough for you, spread paste into an even layer in the same dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes to "dry" it out. The goal is for the paste to dry out enough to shape it into a ball, but not too dried out that it crumbles or burns. Set aside to cool and proceed with the doughs.
• DOUGH #1.
• In a small bowl, make a well in center of flour and add oil. Combine with fork until LOOSE, coarse crumbs form; set aside.
• DOUGH #2.
• In a separate medium bowl, make a well in center of flour. In separate small cup, first whisk oil and water together, then pour into center of flour. Combine with fork until dough takes shape. Divide into 4 parts.
• Flatten each part into a square about 1/8-inch thick. Do NOT flour work surface, as there is enough oil in the dough to prevent it from sticking.
• ASSEMBLE HOPIA.
• For each of the flattened squares, do the following: Crumble 1/4 of Dough #1 on top of Dough #2; spread crumbs evenly but leave space about 1/2-inch from the perimeter of Dough #2 so Dough #1 does not fall off the edges.
• Gently roll up square with your fingers like a jelly roll. Pinch the ends a tiny bit so none of Dough #1 falls out. Repeat process with remainder of flattened squares.
• Gently roll each jelly roll back and forth under your palms, stretching into a cylinder about 1-inch in diameter. Then place cylinders on top of paper towel and chill and rest in fridge for 30 minutes, to absorb excess oil. (Do not chill overnight; dough will harden.).
• After chilled rest time is up, preheat oven to 375°F.
• Take the chilled cylinders and cut each into 5 pieces. Flatten each piece into a very thin square a bit less than 1/8-inch thick. Place a small scoop of mung bean paste in center of square. Fold edges and pinch into a ball. Place ball pinched side down onto an UN-greased cookie sheet and flatten just slightly, but not so much that the pastry skin cracks open.
• Brush tops with beaten egg, and bake at 375°F for 20 minutes, or until BOTTOMS are slightly brown.
• Recommended: Store leftover hopia in Tupperware with piece of bread to keep the pastry soft. But if pastry hardens, microwave hopia for 30 seconds on High.

MUNG BEAN PUFFED PASTRIES

Steps:

• 1. Soak the dal in water to cover by 2 inches, and drain. Then make the filling: In a food processor or a blender, process the dal to make a coarse paste. In a spice or a coffee grinder, coarsely grind together all the whole spices (fennel to cardamom). 2. Heat 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil in a large nonstick wok or saucepan over medium-high heat and add the asafoetida, then the ground spices, and stir about 30 seconds. Mix in the chickpea flour and stir another 30 seconds.3. Add the dal paste and cook over medium heat, stirring and breaking any lumps, about 10 minutes. Add the salt and stir to mix well. Let cool and divide equally into 30 portions (about 1 tablespoon each). Make a ball of each portion and set aside. If the balls seem to fall apart, this means the filling is too dry moisten it with 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water.4. Make the dough: In a medium bowl, using clean fingers, rub together the flour, turmeric, and the remaining 1/4 cup oil until well mixed. Add enough water to make a soft and pliable dough, adding a little at a time. Place the dough on a cutting board and pound lightly with a meat mallet about 2 minutes. Turn the dough over during the 2 minutes to pound different sections. This makes the dough very elastic. Divide the dough equally into 30 portions.5. Assemble the kachauries: In a small bowl, make a paste of 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1 tablespoon water and keep ready. Working with one portion of the dough at a time, with your fingers press out a 3-inch patty. Brush the top surface lightly with water and place one portion of the dal filling in the center. Lift the edges over the filling, bring them together and pinch to seal. Then gently push in the pinched edges down to make a slight depression in the center and to flatten the patty to 1-inch thick. Brush the entire kachauri lightly with the flour-water paste and set aside. Finish assembling all the kachauries. Cover with a clean, damp cotton kitchen towel and set aside.6. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat until it reaches 300°F to 325°F on a frying thermometer, or when a small piece of the dough dropped into the hot oil rises to the top after 15 to 20 seconds. Reduce the heat to medium and add the kachauries, adding as many as the wok can hold at one time with out crowding, and fry slowly, turning only once after the bottom is golden-brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. When the other side is golden-brown, about 3 to 4 minutes more, remove from the wok with a slotted metal spatula and transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately, or let cool and refrigerate up to 15 days.VARIATIONS: Substitute for the yellow mung beans (dhulli mung dal) equal amounts of dried split yellow peas (peeli muttar dal) or green split peas (hari muttar dal), fresh green peas, or a mixture of cashews, almonds, and pistachios.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.