Suzhou-Style Mooncake — Fresh Meat Pastry
This recipe yields 16 pieces. Swap the filling for red bean paste or similar alternatives, add salted egg yolks, and you have the formula for salted egg yolk pastries.
Ingredients
Pork
500g
Scallions
to taste
Ginger
to taste
Cooking wine
a little
Salt
to taste
Chicken essence
a little
Dark soy sauce
1 spoon
Light soy sauce
1 spoon
White pepper powder
a little
Egg
1
Instructions
1
Step 1
Shortcrust pastry part: Mix the low-gluten flour and lard together until well combined.
2
Step 2
Divide into 16 equal portions, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator compartment (not needed in winter, but recommended in summer since the dough becomes harder to handle in hot weather).
3
Step 3
Water dough part: Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
4
Step 4
Knead by hand until the surface is smooth, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes.
5
Step 5
Cut the pork into small pieces, add the ginger slices, and put them all directly into a blender.
6
Step 6
Take out the ground pork, add appropriate amounts of salt, chicken essence, chopped scallions, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, white pepper powder, and one egg white, then stir in one direction until evenly mixed.
7
Step 7
Also divide into 16 equal portions and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes (to make subsequent handling easier).
8
Step 8
The rested water dough should stretch into a thin membrane when pulled by hand; divide it into 16 equal portions as well and set aside.
9
Step 9
Take out the shortcrust portions, wrap one water dough portion around one shortcrust portion, using the same technique as wrapping tangyuan.
10
Step 10
Use a rolling pin to roll it out into an ox-tongue shape.
11
Step 11
Roll up from top to bottom, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes.
12
Step 12
Roll the rested dough into an ox-tongue shape again, roll it up, and press down in the middle with your finger.
13
Step 13
Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a thin sheet.
14
Step 14
Wrap with the frozen pork filling.
15
Step 15
Place in the tiger's mouth area of your palm and seal the opening (mine don't look great — limited skill).
16
Step 16
Gently press flat by hand and mark with a red stamp (optional).
17
Step 17
Brush a layer of oil onto a baking pan.
18
Step 18
Arrange them one by one on the pan, without placing them too close together.
19
Step 19
Preheat the electric oven with both top and bottom heat to 180°C for 10 minutes.
20
Step 20
Place on the middle rack and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes (temperature and time are for reference only).
21
Step 21
Best enjoyed while hot.
