As we welcome the year of the Water Snake, let's try another popular snack introduced by Chinese to our forefathers... our love for hopia!
Hopia means "good biscuit" which came from the Chinese word "ho-pian". Like moon cakes, it is stuffed with fillings and is traditionally given as gifts in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
There are different varieties of hopia. Now, you can select from wide array of flavors like sibuyas, baboy, ube, pandan and many more.
In this recipe, let's make the popular Hopia Monggo. Monggo or mung bean is a common filling of pastries such as hopia.
Hopia Monggo
recipe from panlasangpinoyrecipes.com
Ingredients
Dough
• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, sifted
• ½ cup water
• 1 ½ tablespoon corn syrup
• ½ cup pork lard
Paste
• 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• ½ cup pork lard
Filling
• 2 cups monggo, cooked, mashed and strained
• 1 cups ube, boiled and mashed
• 1 cup sugar
Procedure
1. Sift all purpose flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add water, sugar and corn syrup. Add pork lard and mix with wooden spoon just to incorporate ingredients with flour. Note: Do not over mix.
2. Form dough into a ball, cover with cloth and set aside for 30 minutes. In a bowl, mix together 1 cup all-purpose flour and ½ cup pork lard until a homogenous paste is formed.
3. On a lightly floured board or surface, roll out dough ball with a rolling pin to form a rectangular 1-inch thick. With a spatula, spread the paste evenly over the rectangular dough so that the paste covers two thirds of the surface of the rectangular. Fold the uncovered portion over the center and fold the remaining 1/3 over the first. Fold to make three layers of the dough with the paste in between each layer. Roll our folded dough to its original size and repeat folding process without the paste.
4. Roll out the dough once more and fold for the third time. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Roll out the dough to its original size. Cut sheet of dough lengthwise into two equal portions. Roll each portion jelly roll fashion and cut into 12 equal pieces. Flatten each piece and roll out with rolling pin to form a circular piece. Put about a tablespoon of the monggo or ube-sugar filling at the center and bring up the sides to top center. Seal tightly.
5. Press top lightly to flatten. Place filled pieces on ungreased baking sheet lined with brown paper. Brush top with egg or milk diluted with a little water. Prick surface with a little tines of fork to let out steam.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
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photos/source/reference: flickr.com/groups/pagkaingpinoy | angsarap.net | grouprecipes.com | panlasangpinoyrecipes.com
