Puff Pastry Magic- Palmier, Chinese Shao Bing, and Portuguese Egg Tarts (起酥皮做的 蝴蝶酥, 甜燒餅, 葡式蛋塔)

Puff Pastry Sheets (起酥皮) available from any market is quite a versatile material for making pastries. Here we explore the possibility of using Puff Pastry to make a couple of traditional Chinese pastries. The result is a qualified success. We end up with pastries about 75-85% authentic (75% for Egg Tart, 85% for Shao Bing), with the taste a bit more buttery and the texture slightly more oily and less crispy (酥), than their authentic Chinese counterparts. But the fact that they are quick and easy to make seems to make up for what was missed on the taste and texture. In fact, they are quite good, when served fresh out of the oven (i.e., still warm, after a proper cooling off period), or later on after being reheated in a toaster oven. We're hoping that these recipes might lower the entry barrier for making Chinese pastries (for mere mortals like PaPa :-).

We started our test runs on French Palmier (蝴蝶酥), a typical western-style cookie, just to get familiar with the basic characteristics of Puff Pastry. There are a ton of online recipes for this cookie. We followed this excellent YouTube video closely, without flipping the cookies at the midpoint of baking. We then proceeded into making Chinese Shao Bing (甜燒餅, ref1), and then Portuguese Egg Tarts (葡式蛋塔, ref2, ref3). We'll try our hands on making these Chinese pastries from scratch, i.e., from making the dough, some time in the future. Will report back.

Ingredients

1. Puff Pastry Sheet, 10" x 15" per sheet (for Part I, II, and III below). 
2. For Part I- French Palmier: 3 Tbsp of sugar thoroughly mixed with 1 tsp of Cinnamon Ground (a 9:1 ratio), and a sugar dispenser/sprinkler (optional).
3. For Part II- Chinese Shao Bing: 4 Tbsp (i.e., 1/4 cup) of all purpose flour thoroughly mixed with 1 tsp of corn starch (i.e., homemade cake flour), and 4 Tbsp of Sugar. White or black sesame seeds spread into a rice bowl. Note- Homemade Cake Flour is usually made with 1 Tbsp of Corn Starch added into 1 cup of all purpose flour (1:16 ratio). Sugar water (1 Tbsp sugar fully dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp of water). A small brush. 1/4 cup of sesame seeds (raw or roasted).
4. For Part III- Portuguese Egg Tarts: Half and Half 1.5 cups. Sugar 1/4 cup. 4 egg yolks. 6 tsp of all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp of corn starch (again, homemade cake flour). 20 egg tart tins.

I. French Palmier

1. Take a look at this excellent YouTube video before proceeding. 
2. Take out a single Puff Pastry Sheet (mine was 10" x 15"). Unfold and roll into a flat sheet. Defrost at room temperature for ~15 mins (till still-cold but pliable, back to freezer for 10-15 mins if too soft). 
3. Sprinkle a mix of sugar and cinnamon ground on the sheet evenly and generously. Note- Mix 3 Tbsp of sugar with 1 tsp of cinnamon ground (i.e., a 9:1 ratio), and sprinkle with a sugar dispenser/sprinkler. 
4. Fold 1/4 of the puff pastry sheet in from the edge toward its center (use the long side of the rectangle, as shown in the video). Fold twice from one side and you reach the center line of the sheet. Repeat this process from the other side of the sheet. Note- No need to trim the edges of the sheet. 
5. Send the folded puff pastry sheet back to freezer for 15 minutes. Note- Cutting the sheet when it is no longer cold will collapse the edge of the sheet at cutting point, and cause the edges to Not puff up during baking. 
6. Crosscut the folded-up roll of Puff Pastry Sheet with 1/3”-wide cuts. Set each cut on its side on a baking pan. Spread the bottom of each cut out (to form the shape of butterfly wings). Now press down on the surface of the butterfly lightly with your thumb. Allow ~1/2" space between two pieces. 
7. Preheat your oven to 400-degF, and bake for 20 minuets (with no need to flip the cookies at mid-point of baking). Note- A single 10" x 15" sheet made 20 cookies). Here is the outcome from our kitchen-
   

II. Chinese Shao Bing (甜燒餅)

1. [Making the Shao Bing Filling] 4 Tbsp of all purpose flour thoroughly mixed with 1 tsp of corn starch (i.e., homemade cake flour), and 4 Tbsp of Sugar. 
2. Take a sheet of 10"x15" Puff Pastry out from freezer, unfold, and roll into a flat sheet. Cut the sheet into 3.33"x3" pieces while it's still frozen (no need to defrost). Now let the pieces defrost (to still-cold but pliable, ~15 mins). 
3. Hold one 3.33" x 3" Puff Pastry piece in your palm, and place ~1 tsp of the flour-and-sugar mix we prepared in Step 1, at the center of the 3.33" x 3" puff pastry piece. Carefully collect two opposite corners of the puff pastry piece up and squeeze together, without spilling the filling. Collect the other pair of opposite corners and the rest of the edges, to form an old-money-bag-shaped pocket (see picture). Now, close the pocket at its neck (i.e., 1/2"-3/4" below its uneven top, where the imaginary old-money-bag-string is), by squeezing 4 fingers tightly around its neck. Remove extra puff pastry dough from the neck up (with a small fruit knife or paring knife, set the extra dough aside for Step 6).  Carefully re-seal the top of the pocket by squeezing the dough with your thumb and forefinger to seal any crack (If the filling leaks out during baking, the pocket won't puff up!). Now set the pocket on a board up side down (the now-closed pocket-opening should be facing downward). Note- See the 2nd half of this excellent YouTube video for more info on how to do this step. 
   
4. Press a single pocket flat gently, with your palm, then with a rolling pin, roll the pocket gently into a flat round, or a flat oval (ellipse). Note-Do not press the rolling pin too hard or roll it over the edge of the pocket. We try not to push the inside filling too hard to break the pocket. 
5. Brush sugar water on the top side of the now-flattened pocket. Then press the top side into a plate of sesame seeds. Now set the pocket in a baking pan with ~1/2" space in between (sesame side up). 
6. Repeat Step 3-5 for all the 3.33" x 3" Puff Pastry pieces. Bunch 4-5 extra puff pastry dough pieces together into a ball (i.e., the extra dough cut out in Step 3). Press the ball flat with your palm, then roll into a 3"-diameter round flat, place 1 tsp of filling in, and repeat the relevant parts of Step 3-5.
7. Preheat your oven to 400-degF. Bake till the top of the pockets are golden brown (22-25 minutes). Here is the outcome from our kitchen-
   

III. Portuguese Egg Tarts (葡式蛋塔)

1. [Making Egg Tart Filling] Add 1.5 cups of Half and Half and 1/4 cup of sugar into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Stir and mix, and microwave for 60 seconds, stir and mix again. In a small mixing bowl, whisk 4 egg yolks and add the mix of 6 tsp of all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp of corn starch (i.e., homemade cake flour), whisk again. Pour the Half and Half mixture into the Egg Yolk mixture. Whisk, and sift through a strainer twice.
2. Defrost 10" x 15" Puff Pastry Sheet (till still-old but pliable). Roll up length-wise into a 15”-long log. Leave it in freezer for 15 minuets, and cross-cut into 1/2”-wide pieces. Set each piece on its side on bread rolling board sprinkled with flour. Note- We ended up with 20 pieces, with allowance for cut loss and inaccuracy. Note- On my next try, will cut a frozen piece of 10"x15" puff pastry sheet into 3.33"x3.75" pieces, then defrost. Fit each small piece into a egg tart tin using the same method as fitting a pie crust into a pie pan. Bake at 400-degF for 5-7 minutes. Jump to step 5 (to fill each tin with Egg Tart Filling up to 80% capacity max), Bake for another 18-20 minutes.
3. Flatten a Puff Pastry piece that is cut out in Step 2 by pressing with thumb first and palm next, or with a rolling pin, from its center out into the size of the top opening of a tart tin.
   
4. Fit the flattened piece of puff pastry into a tart tin along its top edge, then press the piece into the bottom of the tart tin with one thumb and forefinger still holding the edge of the puff pastry piece, and the thumb and forefinger of the other hand pressing down into the bottom. Turn the tart tin around, press and fit the flattened puff pastry piece tightly into the tart tin. Make sure you have~10% over the tart tin edge (see picture, excerpted from ref2). Note- Press the bottom thin and tight, freeze if not use immediately. Note- Egg tart filling overflowed over the puff pastry wall during baking will make the puff pastry skin stuck to the tart tin, and hard to remove cleanly. That is the main reason we fit the puff pastry over the tart tin edge, later fill the tart tin up to 80% of its full capacity. 
5. Fill each tart tin with the Egg Tart Filling prepared in Step 1, up to 80% of the tart tin capacity. See Note above for reason not to overfill. 
6. Preheat the oven to 400-degF. Bake on middle rack till the Egg Tart Filling turns golden with brown sugar burn marks, ~25 mins. Note- The puff pastry skin seemed to retreat downward first, and then swelled up along with its filling. Here is the outcome from our kitchen-
   

Air-Dried Chicken (風雞)

Air-dried chicken (風雞) is an authentic YangZhou (揚州) dish that is famously served in Taipei's Silver Wing Restaurant (銀翼餐廳). The traditional method used to air-dry the chicken meat in open air seems error prone, due to its dependence on weather, esp. the humidity. Our previous attempt to make it in open air was met with a somewhat spectacular failure :-). The recipe below followed this excellent Chinese online recipe pretty closely, with experiments conducted to nail down the quantity of marinating ingredients. The key to success here is to air-dry the chicken in the fridge. We also devised two serving options at the end.

Ingredients

1. ~3 lbs of chicken leg and thigh (with skin and bone). Note- Costco chicken thighs work as well.
2. Per Pound Marinating Ingredients: 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp Chinese Peppercorns (花椒).

Method

1. Pan fry (without oil) at low-to-medium heat- For each pound of chicken leg and thigh, add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of Chinese Peppercorns (花椒), stir constantly till fragrant and the salt turns slightly brown (i.e., the color of the Chinese Peppercorn). Let cool on the side.  Note- The chicken turns out slightly salty. Will reduce the salt and peppercorn to half of its quantities on the next try.
2. Trim excessive skin from the chicken leg and thigh. Rub the pan-fried salt and peppercorns on both sides of the chicken evenly.  
3. Set the chicken leg and thigh in a large plastic container with NO lid.  Leave the chicken in fridge for 7 days (in open air in the refrigeration section, not in the freezer). Turn pieces and drain liquid every 24 hrs. Here is a picture of the back and front side of a piece of chicken leg and thigh, after being air-dried for 7 days in the fridge.
   
4. After 7 days, place the chicken meat in proper plastic bags, and freeze for later use. 
5. When ready to use, remove the Chinese Peppercorns from the chicken meat as much as possible. Steam the chicken for 30 minutes.
6. Hand-shred the chicken meat (along with the skin) into thin slices, and set aside.
7. [Serving Option 1] 3-4 stalks of green onions (slant cut into 1”-1.5”-long thin slices). Heat 2-3 Tbsp of veggie oil at low-to-medium heat till below smoke point (for 30-60 seconds). Pour the heated oil on top of the thin slices of green onions. Stir and set aside.  Thinly slice half a red bell pepper, and add 1/4 tsp of salt into the bell pepper slices. Stir and mix, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Mix the hand shredded chicken, the green onion slices, and the red bell pepper slices, and serve.
8. [Serving Option 2] Set 2-3 cups of cooked rice in fridge over night. Prepare 2 scrambled eggs, and set aside (with NO salt added here). Mince 1 stalk of green onion.  Heat 1 Tbsp of veggie oil at medium-to-high heat, add in the cooked rice and the shredded chicken, stir for 2-3 minutes, add in the scrambled eggs, stir for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Add in the minced green onion. Stir and mix, and serve. 

Wine-Soaked Chicken (醉雞)

Wine-soaked chicken (醉雞), specifically, Shaoxing-Wine-Soaked Chicken (紹興醉雞), is a nice Shanghai-style dish. We follow these two excellent Chinese recipes (r1, r2) pretty closely here, with some experiments conducted to nail down the variety and quantity for marinating ingredients.

Ingredients

1. 3 lbs of de-boned chicken leg and thigh or chicken thighs (with skin). 
2. Marinating Ingredients for each pound of meat: 1/4 tsp salt on skin side, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper on meat side, 1/2 tsp sesame oil meat side. 
3. Wine Sauce Ingredients: 2 stalks of green onion (chopped into 2" segments), 6-8 dried red dates (紅棗, with poked holes, or cut in half), 2 tsp Goji(枸杞), 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups of water, 1 cup of quality Shaoxing Rice Wine. 

Method

1. De-bone a chicken leg quarter, a chicken leg and thigh, or a chicken thigh to produce ~3 lbs of boneless chicken meat (with skin). Trim off excessive skin. See this video for how to de-bone a chicken leg quarter. Note- The 6-pack chicken thighs from Costco works well here. 
2. [Flattening Chicken Meat] Make 30-degree slant-cuts halfway into the thicker parts of the chicken meat, and flatten the chicken meat into sheet-like form. Note- 30-degree up from the horizontal surface. Do NOT cut through the meat. 
3. [Marinating Chicken Meat] For each pound of chcicen meat, rub 1/4 tsp salt on skin side, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper on meat side, and 1/2 tsp sesame oil on meat side. Let sit for an hour. 
4. [Making Chicken Roll] Place 1 piece of flattened chicken leg and thigh (or, 2 pieces of chick thighs side-by-side seamlessly) on a piece of 12" x 12" aluminum foil. Roll up the chicken meat inside the aluminum foil, as if you are rolling up a sushi roll. Make sure the aluminum foil is not rolled into the chicken meat, and the roll is tight. For 3 lbs of chicken meat, we make 3 rolls. Note- See this excellent YouTube video for How to Make Sushi Roll. 
5. Steam the chicken rolls wrapped in aluminum foil for 20 minuets, and let the rolls sit in the steamer for 10 additional minutes (do not open the steamer lid). Note- After steaming let the rolls cool down at room temperature, or in ice water to give the chicken meat slightly firmer texture (Q彈).
   
6. [Making the Sauce] In a small pot, add 2 stalks of green onion (chopped into 2" segments), 6-8 dried red dates (紅棗, poking 4-6 holes or cutting in half, to allow the flavor to come out), Goji(枸杞), 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups of water, bring to boil, let simmer for 5 minutes. Now add 1 cup of quality Shaoxing Rice Wine (紹興酒), simmer for 1 -2 minuets for stronger rice wine taste, or 3-4 minuets for more subtle taste of wine. Let the sauce cool down.
7. Unwrap the aluminum foil, and place the chicken meat rolls in the sauce for 24 hours (use a gallon bag or a larger square container). See the picture to the right to see the chicken rolls in the sauce. 
8. Cut the chicken roll into slices (like how you cut the sushi roll), and set the pieces in a plate. Ladle some of the sauce on top. Garnish with red dates, goji, minced green onion, or cilantro stems, and serve. Here is the outcome from our kitchen- 
   

Cantonese-style Steamed Pork Short Ribs (豉汁蒸排骨)

Pork short ribs (aka baby back ribs) steamed with fermented soy beans (豆豉) is a traditional dim-sum dish in Cantonese restaurants. The recipe below follows a couple of Chinese online recipes in the important area of marinating the ribs. Based on our experiments, we use significantly longer steaming time. It’s worth noting that this dish requires about 1.5 hours of prep time, and 1 hour of cooking time.

Ingredients

1. Pork short ribs (aka baby back ribs), 1 lb (~half rack).  Note- Ask the butcher in any Chinese market to cut into 3-4 slices along its length.
2. Per Pound marinating ingredients: salt 1/4 tsp, sugar 1/2 tsp, white pepper 1/4 tsp, rice cooking wine 2 tsp, Fish Sauce (魚露) 1/2 tsp, Fermented Soy Beans (豆豉) 2 tsp, corn starch 1 tsp. Note- These are measures for a pound of ribs. Adjust accordingly based on the weight of the ribs. Fermented Soy Beans (豆豉) can be acquired in any Chinese market. 
3. Corn starch, 2 tsp per pound of ribs, for coating the rib pieces before steaming.
4. Minced garlic, 2-3 Tbsp (or garlic powder, 1 Tbsp), to sprinkle on top of the ribs before steaming. 

Method

1. Cut the long slices of pork short ribs into individual pieces. Immerse the pieces in water in a mixing bowl.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Change water, and repeat this process 3-4 times until the rib pieces turn pale. Drain all the fluid from the mixing bowl, and let sit till about 90-100 minutes before this dish will be served. Note- Budget 30 minutes for marinating, and 60 minutes for steaming. This dish needs to be served steaming hot.
2. Add all the marinating ingredients into the mixing bowl, stir and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 30 minutes (not much longer than 30 minutes, or the rib pieces might be a bit salty).  Note- Again, please note that these are Per Pound of Ribs measures.
3. Before steaming, add 2 tsp of corn starch (per pound of ribs) into the mixing bowl, stir and mix till all rib pieces are thoroughly coated with corn starch. 
4. Get your steamer ready with ~1" deep of water. Turn on high heat till water is boiling, then let it simmer. Note- In my case, ~1/2" of water is consumed for 1 hour of steaming.
5. Set the rib pieces in one layer in a plate with some depth (e.g., an 8" glass baking pan). Brush off the fermented soy beans from the top of the rib pieces to the side (to prevent the beans from darkening the rib pieces). Sprinkle minced garlic (or garlic powder) evenly on top of the ribs. 
6. Steam the ribs for 60 minutes. Note- Medium-to-high heat for full steam in the first 10-15 minutes. Turn to medium-to-low heat afterwards.
7. Garnish with minced green onion and/or fresh red pepper, and serve.  Here is the outcome from our kitchen.