This is a little treat that my mom would make when I was growing up. It’s not the traditional mooncake you’d see in the chinese supermarket so it’s not super popular, and I had a hell of a time finding a recipe for this. I asked my mom for her recipe, she sent me something with notes like “I don’t really remember this part” and “I think this is what I put in it.”
So, the Evie Network Test Kitchen went to work on deciphering this recipe, and after about 3 different tries and 60 minutes total in the oven, I’ve found the winning combination!
The dough on this mooncake very flaky, and traditionally made by rolling together alternating layers of oily dough and flour that has been stir-fried in oil. This crust has a very similar texture to puff pastry. For simplicity’s sake, I didn’t stir fry anything in oil because wow that seems overkill.
Dough:
Water Dough:
2 cups of flour
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
Oil Dough:
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup shortening (you should use lard for this, I just had extra shortening to use up)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Filling:
1 lb ground pork
2 green onion stalks, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper
Mix filling together and set aside.
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Mix the water dough and oil dough separately. Wrap the water dough in plastic and let sit for about 30 minutes to relax, this makes rolling easier. | ||
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Separate the dough into 16 equal pieces. Keep them covered with the plastic wrap when you are working so they don’t get dried out. You could also roll all the dough at once ala puff pastry instead of each piece individually, but rolling big pieces of dough requires a lot of precision that I don’t quite have ;) | ||
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Roll a piece of water dough out into a 2″ x 1″ rectangle, and place a piece of oil dough that is 1″ x 1″ on top. This doesn’t have to be precise, as long as you maintain a 2×1 ratio. You can also use a tri-fold which is what they use for classic french puff pastry – this would increase the layers as you fold the dough. But for mooncakes, a two fold is enough since we won’t be folding as much as puff pastry. | ||
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Fold the other side over so it looks like a little dough taco. Use your rolling pin, and roll it again into a rectangle that maintains the 2×1 ratio. Fold the dough over and repeat the rolling process. Do this about 4 times. I experimented with more layers, but beyond 4 or 5 folds, it didn’t seem to add any extra texture difference in the dough. It could also be my awful rolling skills as well! | ||
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Roll the dough out into a round, about 6″ in diameter. Place a generous amount of filling in the middle, and use the wrapping technique illustrated here. I do it a little differently by holding the entire thing in my hand, but it’s hard to explain without pictures, and hard to take pictures when both hands are occupied ;) You will need either some water or egg whites brushed around the perimeter of the dough to help it adhere when wrapping. | ||
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Place the mooncake upside down so the smooth dough side is facing upwards. Shape it into a patty by patting it down. Arrange them on a well greased cookie sheet. Brush them with an egg wash (1 egg, with 1 tbsp of water), and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Traditionally you would put a red dot of food coloring on the top to signify the filling – because you don’t want to bite into a mooncake expecting a sweet filling, and then get a mouthful of meat. | ||
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Eat the mooncake for the autumn festival! |
