豆沙饼 - Tau Sa Piah

Jo asked me about this pastry few days ago. Since I am a big fan of it and I had all ingredients on hand, I decided to give it a try. I tried to make the filling with one of the recipes I found online, it did not work for me. I followed that recipe exactly, the shallot was way too much and its taste over powered the mung bean. Also, the colour of the filling looked disgusting and turned me off. At the end, I made a new batch of filling based on trial and error. I would not say this is the best recipe, but I am happy with the result.

Tau sa piah is the hokkien name for this pastry, tau sa means bean paste and piah means pastry or cookies. It is one of the few traditional Chinese pastries that is still famous in both Malaysia and Singapore. In the old days, this pastry is distributed together with some other pastries, to bride's relatives on the engagement day to spread the good news. Today, the engagement sweet is replaced by assorted western cakes.

Ingredients (15 pcs):
Dough A:
120g flour
60g shortening

Dough B:
120g all-purpose flour, sifted
30g icing sugar
30g shortening
60ml water

Filling (sweet):

3/4 cup peeled mung beans (soaked for 2-3 hrs, steamed and mashed/blended)

3 tbsp cooking oil
1 bulb shallot, sliced thinly (about 1 tbsp heap)
1/2 cup sugar*
1/2 tsp salt*
1 tsp grated orange grind

* There are two types of tau sa piah, if you prefer the 'savory' version, reduce the amount of sugar and increase the amount of salt. Also, add a little bit of ground white pepper.

Directions:

1. Filling: Combine sugar, salt, and mashed beans in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. Heat oil in wok or pan. Stir-fry the shallots till fragrant and lightly browned, removed fried shallot and set aside for later use. Stir in orange grind and bean mixture, stir-fry on low heat till it becomes dry and able to form a ball. It would not take too long.
3. Remove from heat and stir in fried shallots. Cool completely, divide and shape filling into 15 equal portion balls.
4. Dough: Prepare dough A and B separately using the same method. Bring together all ingredients for each dough, mix well and knead to form soft dough. Cover and let them stand for 30 minutes. Divide and shape each dough into 15 equal portion balls.
5. Assemble: Wrap dough B around dough A. Roll it out into 15 x 3 cm (approx.) rectangle with a rolling pin, then roll up from the short end, repeat this step again.
6. Roll it out into 10 cm diameter circle and place the filling at the center. Bring all edges together and pinch to seal.
7. Egg wash and sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top if desired.
8. Preheat oven at 180 degree C and bake for 20 minutes till golden brown.

Notes:

• This pastry recipe can be used in making baked savory meat bun - 'shao bao' and other baked dim sum items.
• I steamed/cooked the mung beans using microwave, added some water and cooked on 'Defrost' mode for 10 minutes. Same method as in cooking steamed rice.