On 17 September 2022, a cozy group of Slow Food Hong Kong members and friends gathered in the studio of Chef Samantha Tam of Heimao Foods to learn to make Chinese pastries. Samantha, who studied pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu and is a founding member of Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance Hong Kong, just produced more than 4,000 of her popular mooncakes over the past month in that studio for this year’s mid-autumn festival. We were excited about the afternoon’s workshop on salted egg yolk & red bean puff pastries (豆沙蛋黃酥) and pecan cookies (碧根果仁酥), Chinese style.
Using the lard freshly prepared by Samantha (from pig’s fat at the butcher’s), we mixed it with flour to form one dough as the “fat” layer and another as the “skin” layer for the puff pastry. The kids were delighted to feel the change in texture as the lard gradually melted to blend well with the flour.
As the dough was left to rest, Samantha instructed us to prepare the dough for the pecan cookies – this time using lard as well as butter. After adding chopped pecans to the dough, it was ready to be divided into portions and rolled into balls for placing on the baking tray. The kids happily added the finishing touch by placing the pecans on top of each cookie dough brushed with eggwash.
As the cookies were baking in the oven, Samantha demonstrated how to prepare the balls of salted egg yolk wrapped in red bean paste for the puff pastry. Next, we learnt to roll the “fat” layer wrapped by the “skin” layer into a flat dough in such a way that there would be layers of puff after baking. The balls of red bean paste and salted egg yolk were put in the discs of dough for wrapping and sealing, then brushed with eggwash and off to the oven.
As we waited for the pastries to bake, Samantha showed us her video on how to render lard. It could be done easily at home with pig’s fat, and lard is essential for making flaky Chinese pastries. It also does not taste or smell as heavily as butter.
Shortly after, the pastries were ready! Everyone was excited to see what they made fresh from the oven, and keen to try the pastries with the wonderful aroma. It was a lovely afternoon to connect with food by learning the craft, understanding more about the ingredients and, as a participant desribed, it was calming baking goodies. We could not wait to share the delicious pastries with family and friends!
