This is me continuing my tau sar piah baking exploration... Tau sar piah? It is a traditional Singapore / Malaysian Chinese type of pastry filled with mung beans filling which can be sweet, salty, pasty or melty as mentioned at If you are a Singaporean like me, you will know that there are many types of tau sar piah with various types and combinations of fillings and pastry to enjoy... Previously, I have baked the At where? I like to ask... mirror mirror on the wall? Nay! I don't have a magic mirror and don't look like an evil queen or even a snow white! LOL! Fortunately, I do have internet and have a blogging friend who has baked the most awesome flaky tau sar piah at
here.
yuan yang kind which is made of a flaky pastry with a perfect combination of slightly sweet, salty and spicy flavours in its mung beans and meat floss filling. And for this bake, I tell myself that I have to find the tau sar piah that is the flakiest!
Victoria Bakes. High five Victoria!!!
This recipe can bake seriously flaky tau sar piah!!! To look for the flakiest of all, I'm in my investigating suit to see if the use of different fat can make any differences... Well, let's see.
Instead of the salty and textured kind of mung bean filling that I have made before, I like to bake these flaky tau sar piah with a smooth and brown-sugared 611-like tau sar filling. 611? As mentioned before at here, 611 is a famous tau sar piah shop in Singapore for generations but seems to be disappearing for some reasons and this recipe that I have mostly adapted from the book Delicious Asian Baked Treats by Oi Lin is so yum and can be as good as the 611-kind!
45ml (3 tbsp) neutral-tasting and smooth cooking oil plus more to fry the shallot (I used
So mirror mirror can you tell me which tau sar piah that is the flakiest of all? I would say the ones that are made with either shortening or butter but the tastiest ones are the ugly-looking ones that are made with butter... LOL!
Having said that, I like to strong emphasise that this is just my personal opinion as you might like your tau sar piah very differently.
Nevertheless here are the recipes.
Brown sugar tau sar filling that is mostly adapted from the book, Delicious Asian Baked Treats by Oi Lin Makes 20 portions
100g mung beans (without skin), rinsed with cold water
50g caster sugar
25g dark brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar*
1/2 tsp salt**
4 tbsp finely sliced shallots
* Please do not reduce this amount as the sweetness of this paste is just right.
** You can add more salt if you are making this paste into a salty paste.
Place beans in a large bowl or container and fill the bowl or the container with adequate water. Cover the bowl or container with plastic wrap and leave the bean in the fridge to soak overnight.
Alfa one rice bran oil) - please note that you might need to use a lot more oil if you are using a bigger pan to deep fry your shallot. On the next day, pour off the soaking water. Wash the beans with extra water and drain them thoroughly, then transfer the beans into a heat proof container.
Using a steamer with rapid boiling water at the base of the steamer, steam the beans for 30 mins or until soft.
While steaming, fry shallots in cooking oil with medium heat until golden brown. Remove shallots from the frying oil and place them on paper towel to drain off the excess oil. Do not discard the frying oil as you need to use some of the oil as shallot oil later. Set aside.
When the beans are cooked, pour the beans into a sieve to drain any excess liquid. Using a food processor or blender, process the beans and fried shallots to form a smooth paste. You may add a little water into the mixture if the mixture is too dry to process.
Transfer the bean paste into a saucepan. Add 45ml (3 tbsp) shallot oil and cook and stir the paste using medium low heat until the paste is semi-dry. Add both sugars into the paste and continue to cook and stir for another 2 mins or until the paste is firm enough for shaping but also moist enough for taste. Set aside to cool.
Divide into 20 portions.
Makes 5-6 x 5.5cm biscuits with each kind of fat, 5 for the ones made with shortening and 6 for the ones made with ghee or butter
Water dough
50g all purpose flour
25g shortening, preferably the trans fat free Crisco / ghee / unsalted butter, soften at room temperature - please do not use oil
25g water
Oil dough
50g cake flour
Flaky pastry that is mostly adapted from Victoria Bakes 35g shortening preferably the trans fat free Crisco / ghee / unsalted butter, soften at room temperature - please do not use oil
Egg wash:
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp milk
black and white sesame seeds to sprinkle
To prepare the water dough:
In a mixing bowl, rub shortening or ghee or butter into flour. Add water and combine the mixture into a dough. Transfer the dough onto a non-stick surface and knead until it is smooth. Cover the dough with a cling wrap and set aside to rest for 1 hr in room temperature.
To prepare the oil dough:
In a mixing bowl, combine cake flour and shortening or ghee or butter to form a pliable dough. Cover it with a cling wrap. Set aside.
To assemble:
Divide the water and oil dough into 5-6 equal portions.
Take a portion of water dough and roll it into a flat round shape. Place a portion of oil dough on the rolled water dough and wrap the water dough around the oil dough. Seal the edges.
Using a rolling pin, roll the combined dough into a flat oval shape and roll it up like Swiss roll. Using a rolling pin, roll the combined dough into a long strip and roll up like a Swiss roll again.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat round disc. Place each divided mung bean fillings (about one tablespoonful) in the center of the dough. Wrap it and seal the edges. You can either shape the pastry into a rounded ball or use a rolling pin to flatten it slightly to form a flat disc. Repeat this shaping method with the rest of the pastry and filling.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line baking tray with baking paper. Place the wrapped pastries with its seam side down onto the prepared tray.
