Tea Pastry (Cha Shi)
A famous specialty from Shouyang, Shanxi — crisp and flaky on the outside with a crunchy interior, shaped like small puff-pastry mooncakes, and finished with a distinctive wine aroma.
Ingredients
Flour (used in three batches)
700 g
Sesame seeds (20g reserved for filling)
100 g
Walnut kernels (chopped)
20 g
Peanut kernels (chopped)
20 g
Green and red candied shreds (chopped)
20 g
Cooking oil (used in three batches)
200 g
Brown sugar
250 g
Baijiu (Chinese liquor)
a pinch
Baking soda
a pinch
Maltose water (maltose diluted with water)
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Add 200 g flour to 25 g cooking oil and a pinch of baking soda, mix well, then add about 70 g water and bring together into a stiff dough. Turn out onto the board, knead until smooth, and roll into 1 mm thin sheets. Cut into pieces and bake in a hanging oven (or oven) until cooked, then place on the board and crush with a rolling pin. Sift through a fine-mesh sieve into small crumbs or a powder.
2
Step 2
Finely chop the walnut kernels, green and red candied shreds, and peanut kernels, then combine with the above flour crumbs along with 20 g sesame seeds, the brown sugar, and the baijiu, and mix evenly to form the tea pastry filling.
3
Step 3
Add 75 g cooking oil and 100 g warm water to 300 g flour to make a dough; knead until smooth and glossy — this is the water dough. Mix 200 g flour with 100 g hot oil until evenly combined to form the oil-shortening dough.
4
Step 4
Divide both the water dough and the oil-shortening dough evenly into 10 portions each. Take one portion of water dough, knead smooth, flatten it, and wrap one portion of oil-shortening dough inside. Use a small rolling pin to roll it out into a long strip, then roll up into a small coil. Press down in the middle of the coil with your finger so that both ends curl upward. Brush all over with maltose water (maltose diluted with water), then dip evenly in sesame seeds. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown, then remove — done.
