#Lotus seed paste how to#
#Lotus seed paste skin#

My mooncake mold is 4.4 oucnes (125g).Place a ball of filling in the center and wrap the dough around it, bringing the edges of the dough up to cover the filling completely. Take a ball of dough and use your palms to pat it into a disk, about 2 inches in diameter.Cover it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Form it into a ball with your palms, and transfer to a plate. Then, use the scale to measure out 1.8 ounces of dough at a time.Form it into a ball with your palms and transfer to a plate. To assemble the mooncakes, use a kitchen scale to measure out 2.6 ounces of filling at a time.

#Lotus seed paste how to#

On how to make your paste from scratch please see the description box or at. When you buy the paste it’s important to pick the ones that have vegetable oil in it.

For the filling, I’m using a premade mooncake red lotus paste, which you can buy in most of the Chinese supermarkets or online.

Place the dough in a large Ziploc bag and let it rest for 2 hours. Add the sifted flour and mix and knead until the flour is well incorporated and no streaks remain, about 5 minutes.

To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl, add the honey (traditionally people use golden syrup for this, but you can totally use honey), peanut oil, and lye water, and mix well.

In Chinese, we call this process “hui you,” which literally translates to “returning oil.” Red Lotus Seeds Mooncakes RecipeĢ large baking trays, lined with parchment paperģ/4 cup honey (can substitute with golden syrup)ġ teaspoon food-grade lye water (available online and in Chinese supermarkets)Ģ 1/2 pounds red lotus seeds paste (available online and in Chinese supermarkets) After two days, the crusts will become soft, chewy, and shiny, and the color will deepen. Baked mooncakes need to be stored in an airtight container for two days before serving. Spraying the mooncakes with water before they go into the oven also helps.ĭo not eat the mooncakes right away. To prevent cracking, always keep the dough and the unbaked mooncakes covered with plastic wrap.

I used a pre-made sweet red bean paste for the filling, which saved me at least four hours of prep time, but the paste does not have any oil in it, and so I had to add some myself.

#Lotus seed paste skin#

The filling needs oil, in order for the skin to become soft and shiny. Lye water, meanwhile, gives them their golden color. For instance, golden syrup is one of the main elements that makes the outside of the mooncakes soft, chewy, and shiny. You can change the proportion as you wish, as long as the total amount fits your mold.Įach ingredient serves a purpose. The mooncake mold I used is for 4.4-ounce mooncakes, so I measure out 2.6 ounces of filling and 1.8 ounces of dough for each mooncake. The ratio of filling to dough is usually between 2:1 and 3:1.