During the pandemic some people have started to make their own sourdough starter, others have perfected homemade ice cream, I chose to tackle mooncakes for Chinese New Year. Mooncakes are often eaten at the time of the harvest moon and at other holidays. Traditionally mooncakes have a salted egg yolk in the middle with red bean paste around it. I prefer plain red bean paste.
In her beautiful book, Mooncakes and Milk Bread, Kristina Cho cautions that mooncakes are best left to the professionals. That may be true. It took me three tries to get mooncakes that looked like mooncakes, with the right amount and consistency of filling. There are only 2 components and the dough is simple to make. The filling is not too hard either. But the assembly of the mooncake is tricky and you will need a 50g mooncake mold to form them.
For the red bean paste:
1 cup dried adzuki beans
3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Rinse the beans and put them in an instant pot with the water. Cook on the bean/chili setting for 30-33 minutes. The beans should be soft and easily smashed with the back of a spoon. Drain the beans and add the sugar. Using an immersion blender, puree the beans until smooth.
Transfer the bean mixture to a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently. You should have a dark thick paste, similar to the consistency of peanut butter. Transfer to a heatproof container, let cool and then refrigerate until ready to use. The bean paste should be chilled for at least a couple of hours before filling mooncakes.
For the dough:
150 g white flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup Lyle's golden syrup or Karo syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp alkaline water (mix 1/8 tsp baking soda + 1 cup water)
For the egg wash:
1 large beaten egg
2 tblsp tap water
Using a digital scale (believe me, this is necessary) measure out the flour. Add the syrup and the oil. Add the alkaline water. Stir to form a dough. Knead slightly by hand. You should have a soft pliable dough. If not, add up to 1 more teaspoon of the syrup, oil and water. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic. Let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
When you are ready to make the mooncakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat.
Cut the dough into 10 equal wedges. Each one should weigh about 30 grams. Roll each piece into a ball and put the ball between two large flat squares of plastic wrap on the counter. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8". Form a 25 gram ball of bean paste, about the size of a ping-pong ball and peel back the top layer of plastic wrap to place it in the center of the dough.
Lift the lower sheet of plastic wrap and press the dough around the filling and pinch together. Trim off any excess dough and continue to pinch any cracks together until you have a nice round ball that weighs about 50-55 grams.
Insert the ball into the mooncake mold, position the mold on the cookie sheet and press the plunger down firmly. Then lift the mold off the the cookie sheet about an inch and press the plunger again to expel the mooncake. Repeat the process 9 more times. Usually there are enough dough trimmings by the end to form one more mooncake. (You will have plenty of extra red bean paste which you can use to make
rice cakes or
mochi.)
Bake the mooncakes for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and raise the temperature to 375 degrees. Let cool for 10 minutes and then brush with egg wash. Bake again for 10 minutes until deep golden brown. Let cool completely and then store in an airtight container for 1-2 days to allow the dough to soften.
