Teochew Spiral Yam Mooncake: layered and flaky pastry encasing a sweet yam / taro paste. It is pretty to look at, and extremely delicious to eat!
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Teochew Mooncake / Spiral Mooncake
Teochew Mooncake is one of the many traditional varieties of mooncakes that is gaining popularity in recent years. It has a layered and flaky crust made by layering two types of dough - "water dough" and "oil dough" - together. The layering looks so impressive and pretty that sometimes it's called Spiral Mooncake or Thousand Layer Mooncake. It also has a traditional name Lao Bing in which láo 朥 means lard and bǐng 饼 means biscuit - because traditionally, pork lard is used to make these mooncakes. Nowadays, for health and dietary reasons, many has replaced lard with shortening and/or oil.
The filling for Teochew mooncakes varies depending on preference, but yam paste / yam filling is perhaps the most common. Salted egg yolk is also sometimes added like Cantonese mooncakes. As we are not fans of salted egg yolks in mooncakes (but we like it in cream puffs), I did not include them in our yam mooncakes.
- Teochew Mooncake (cháo shì yuè bǐng 潮式月饼)
- Water dough (shuǐ yóu pí 水油皮)
- Oil dough (yóu sū 油酥)
- Thousand Layer Mooncake (qiān céng sū yuè bǐng 千层酥月饼)
- Lao Bing (láo bǐng 朥饼)
Yam Paste / Yam Filling
I think most of Singapore's yam come from Thailand, India or China. I used 100% Thailand yam for my attempt, which costs about SGD 6 per kg from the wet market. Some recipes may also include a little purple sweet potato into the filling to make the paste more purplish in colour.
The yam is first peeled, steamed until soft then mashed while it's still hot. As I wanted a smooth-textured paste, I strained the yam through a stainless steel sieve. However, as no water was added in the original recipe, the yam was very stiff and difficult to strain. Hence I've tweaked the recipe at the end to mix in some water before straining the yam. Once strained, the yam is mixed with sugar, oil and a wheat starch slurry. The mixture is then cooked until a paste is formed.
The sweetness of the yam paste is just right for us, it's not as sweet as the Cantonese mooncake red bean filling.
Chinese Layered Flaky Pastry
Based on my Google research, there are generally two types of Chinese layered flaky pastry - Huaiyang-style and Cantonese-style.
Both pastries consist of an oil dough and a water dough rolled and laminated together. The difference is that Cantonese-style pastry typically consists of eggs, which likely makes it richer and yield a more crisp texture than the Huaiyang-style pastry. If I'm not wrong, the flaky egg tarts use the Cantonese-style pastry for the base.
The Huaiyang-style pastry is actually more commonly used. Besides in Teochew Mooncakes, they are also used in Cantonese Wife Cakes, Tau Sar Pia, Taiwanese Sun Cake etc.
This is my first time making the Huaiyang-style pastry and surprisingly it's not as difficult as expected. There are plenty of YouTube resources out there which provide detailed instructions and explanation on making the pastry.
- Huaiyang-style pastry (huái yáng sū pí 淮扬酥皮)
- Cantonese-style pastry (bāi sū 擘酥 / guǎng shì sū pí 广式酥皮)
- Cantonese Wife Cakes (lǎo pó bǐng 老婆饼)
- Tau Sar Pia (dòu shā bǐng 豆沙饼)
- Taiwanese Sun Cake (tài yáng bǐng 太阳饼)
Bake or Deep-Fry
There are two methods to cook the Teochew mooncake - bake or deep-fry. I would think that deep-frying will yield a more crispy crust. As I find deep-frying troublesome, I chose to bake the mooncakes instead. I've also seen YouTube videos that some baked for 40 to 45 minutes to yield a crisp crust on the outside. However I didn't bake for this long as I was worried that this will result in the mooncakes to be a tad too dry inside. My resulting Teochew mooncake has a soft, tender and flaky crust. I do toast it briefly before consuming.
Conclusion
Overall, I'm very happy with how the Teochew mooncake turned out. The filling is not too sweet and the pastry is not as difficult as I thought it would be. The mooncake looks so pretty and tastes so delicious! I'm also excited to try other flaky dough recipes in future.
I did not take step-by-step photos of the process this time round, but I've included the YouTube video links in the recipes below that I referred to when making the Teochew mooncake. They have been very useful and I definitely will update the post with my own in future. Happy baking!
Yam Paste / Yam Filling for Mooncakes
EQUIPMENT
- Steamer
- Non-stick pan
INGREDIENTS
- 500 grams peeled yam
- 150 grams water, Part 1
- 150 grams sugar
- 80 grams oil, preferably peanut or shallot
- 30 grams wheat starch
- 30 grams water, Part 2
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut yam into finger-thick slices or cubes. Steam over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft and a chopstick can poke through the yam easily.500 grams peeled yam
- Transfer yam into a mixing bowl and mash while it's still hot. Add in Part 1 water and mix until smooth, adding more water if the paste is very thick. Do note that the more water you add, the easier it will be to strain it later, but conversely it will take a longer time to cook.150 grams water
- Strain the yam paste into a non-stick pan. Add in sugar and oil. Dissolve wheat starch into Part 2 water and add the mixture into the pan as well.150 grams sugar, 80 grams oil, 30 grams wheat starch, 30 grams water
- Cook the paste over medium heat, stirring constantly, to form a firm paste. This will take up to 15 to 30 minutes (see Note 1).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the cooked yam paste onto the lined baking sheet and spread it out evenly to let cool quickly.
- If not using the paste immediately, wrap the paste with clingwrap and freeze. Thaw the paste the night before in the refrigerator before using.
NOTES
- I refer to this YouTube video for the consistency of the paste.
- Recipe is adapted from Guai Shu Shu's Teochew Yam Spiral Mooncake
Teochew Spiral Yam Mooncake
INGREDIENTS
Oil Dough
- 180 grams plain flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 100 grams shortening
Water Dough
- 200 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon purple sweet potato powder, optional
- 30 grams caster sugar
- 50 grams oil, preferably peanut, shallot or lard
- 100 grams water
- ½ teaspoon vinegar
Filling
- 720 grams yam filling, divide into 16 portions, about 45-grams each
INSTRUCTIONS
Oil Dough
- Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Whisk to mix the salt evenly throughout the flour. Add in shortening and mix into a dough - I start off by using a firm spatula / wooden spoon, then finish mixing by hand. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.180 grams plain flour, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 100 grams shortening
Water Dough
- Sift flour and sweet potato powder (if using) into a mixing bowl. Add in caster sugar and whisk to mix the dry ingredients. Add in oil, water and vinegar. Mix with a firm spatula / wooden spoon until the mixture starts to form a dough, then finish mixing by hand. Do not over-mix the dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.200 grams plain flour, 1 teaspoon purple sweet potato powder, 30 grams caster sugar, 50 grams oil, 100 grams water, ½ teaspoon vinegar
Combining the Doughs - see Note 2
- Note: Always keep dough that are resting or you are not working on covered with a plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Flour your work surface and the dough lightly when rolling out the dough. You can also place a plastic wrap (or plastic guitar sheet) on top of the dough when rolling to prevent sticking.
- Divide oil dough and water dough into 8 portions each (See Note 1) and roll all of them into balls (you will get 16 balls).
- Take 1 water dough portion, flatten with your palm into a disc and encase 1 oil dough portion, ensuring the water dough is evenly wrapped around the oil dough. Repeat until all oil dough portions are wrapped with water dough portions (you will now have 8 balls).
- First Roll. Take 1 dough portion and flatten with your palm into a disc. Take a rolling pin and roll it out into a long rectangular shape, about 3-mm thick. Do it gently so that the oil dough doesn't get squeezed out. Starting from the bottom corner of the dough, roll up the dough diagonally and tightly.
- Second Roll. Flatten the dough with your palm and roll it out again lengthwise into a long rectangular strip, about 3-mm thick. Try to ensure that the dough has straight edges and is of even thickness so that it rolls up evenly.
- Starting from the short edge, roll up the dough tightly into a roll. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes while you repeat Steps 4-6 for the rest of the dough portions.
- Take 1 rolled-up dough and use a serrated knife to cut the dough into half. Repeat for all the rolled-up doughs (you will get 16 dough portions).
Wrapping the Mooncake - see Note 3
- Note: Always keep dough that are resting or you are not working on covered with a plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Flour your work surface and the dough lightly when rolling out the dough. You can also place a plastic wrap (or plastic guitar sheet) on top of the dough when rolling to prevent sticking.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- Take 1 dough portion and place it cut-side up. Flatten with your palm into a disc and roll it out into a circle. Try to ensure that the center of the dough stays in the center of the rolled out circle.
- Flip the dough over and place 1 filling portion in the center of the dough. Encase the filling with the dough, keeping it as round as possible without distorting the layers. Pinch the bottom to seal. Place the mooncake on the lined baking sheet. Repeat.720 grams yam filling
Baking
- Preheat oven to 170C (conventional) / 160C (convectional). Bake 20 to 30 minutes (mine took 25 minutes) until cooked through (you don't want it to be too browned as you want to see the pretty purplish colour of the pastry). Let mooncakes cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes, then transfer to a baking sheet to let them cool completely.
Storage
- The mooncakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. For longer storage, store in the refrigerator or freeze. Warm the mooncakes in the oven or air fryer before consuming.
NOTES
- The number of portions to divide the dough into depends on how many mooncakes you are making. Take the number of mooncakes you are making and divde by 2 - this is the number of dough portion required.
- I referred to this YouTube video on how to combine and roll out the dough.
- I referred to this YouTube video on how to seal the dough.
- These mooncakes are huge at about 85 grams each - ~45 grams of filling and ~39 grams of dough. I find them a tad too big so I will likely make smaller ones in future.
- X commented that he would prefer a mooncake with a more dough : filling ratio, hence I may tweak the recipe in future to increase the amount of dough.
- X also commented that the pastry can be more fragrant (I used peanut oil in the water dough). I may use butter next time to see if it will make the pastry more fragrant.
- Recipe is adapted from Guai Shu Shu's Teochew Yam Spiral Mooncake
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