← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 110 g golden syrup (or mooncake syrup)
• ½ tsp lye water (kansui)
• 40 g neutral oil
• 160 g cake flour or plain flour
• 540 g sweet red bean or lotus seed paste
• 6 salted duck egg yolks, halved (optional)
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp water, to glaze

Method

1. Stir the golden syrup, lye water and oil together until smooth, then fold in the flour to a soft, glossy dough. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
2. If using the yolks, bake them on a tray at 180°C (350°F) for 5 min, until they just turn opaque. Divide the paste into 12 balls of 45 g and wrap each around half a yolk.
3. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 25 g. Flatten each into a thin round, wrap it around a filling ball and gently push the dough up and over until sealed.
4. Dust a 63 g mooncake mould with flour, press in a ball, then tap or press it out onto a lined tray.
5. Mist the cakes lightly with water and bake for 5 min. Take them out, cool for 10 min, then brush very thinly with the egg glaze.
6. Bake for 12–15 min more, until a deep, even gold. Cool, then store in an airtight box for 1–2 days so the crust softens and turns shiny.

Tips

• Contains egg and wheat. Lye water is alkaline and corrosive when undiluted; measure carefully and keep it away from children.
• The rest after baking (called returning the oil) matters: the crust starts dry and turns soft and glossy.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Taste of Asian Food Omnivore's Cookbook Omnivore's Cookbook