Eyebrow Pastry
Shanghai-style flaky pastry filled with red bean paste, shaped into a crescent with a crimped edge, then deep-fried.
Ingredients
Refined white flour (main ingredient)
1.8 kg
Red bean paste (main ingredient)
500 g
Cooked lard (seasoning, actual use about 300 g)
900 g
Vegetable oil (seasoning, for making bean paste and handling)
a pinch
Red beans (for making bean paste)
to taste
Baking soda (for cooking red beans)
a pinch
White sugar (for bean paste filling)
to taste
Osmanthus flowers (for stir-frying bean paste filling evenly)
to taste
Cold water (for making water-oil dough)
200 g
Instructions
1
Making the bean paste filling
Wash the red beans thoroughly. Place them in a pot with cold water and a pinch of baking soda, then cook until soft. Pass through a fine sieve to rub off the bean skins. Put the bean paste in a cloth bag and squeeze out excess moisture. Combine the bean paste with white sugar in a bowl, brushing the bowl first with a little vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Stir-fry over low heat to drive off moisture, then add osmanthus flowers and stir until evenly mixed. Let cool and set aside.
2
Making the water-oil dough and oil pastry
Place 300 g of flour on the work surface, make a small well in the center, add 70 g of cooked lard and 200 g of cold water. Mix together and knead until soft, continuing until the dough no longer sticks to hands or work surface to form the water-oil dough. Flatten the water-oil dough into a round disc, place the oil pastry inside, wrap it up and flatten again. Use a rolling pin to roll into a 0.3 cm thick long strip, fold into 3 layers and roll out again. Repeat this rolling process once more, finally rolling to 0.3 cm thick and 20 cm long strip. Roll into a long cylinder, then cut with a knife into 28 g pieces to form dough wrappers.
3
Filling and shaping
Roll each dough wrapper into a 7 cm diameter round skin. Hold the skin in the left hand and scoop the filling into the center with the right hand. Fold in half into a semicircle, then twist and pinch the edges together to create a rope-like decorative border, forming the eyebrow pastry raw shape.
4
Deep-frying
Heat the wok and bring the cooked lard to 40-50% hot (approximately 150-180°C). Add the eyebrow pastry raw pieces and fry until they float. When the pastry layers open up like flowers, increase to high heat and fry thoroughly (maintaining the white color). The eyebrow pastry is now ready.
