Lotus Seed Paste

莲蓉馅

If you have time, you should prepare your own lotus seed paste as there are no additives and preservatives. You can also adjust the sweetness to your liking. The paste can be used as filling in mooncakes or steamed buns. Below recipe is adapted from this blog. 

Ingredients (makes about 300g lotus paste):

100g dried white lotus seeds (without brown skin)

50g sugar (reduce to 30g if using corn syrup)

20g maltose

50g vegetable cooking oil

60g light corn syrup (optional)

Method:

1. Soak the dried lotus seeds in water for a few hours or overnight, then remove the core (green center, which is bitter).

2. Put the seeds in a pot and add sufficient water to cover the seeds. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer until the lotus seeds are soft. This takes about 30 minutes. Reserve 50ml of cooking water for step 3 below.

3. Drain and mash the seeds through a sieve while hot. Alternatively, use the blender to puree the seeds. Add the cooking water, one tablespoon at a time to the mashed/pureed lotus seed until you get a smooth texture.

3. Heat up the wok with 1/3 of the vegetable cooking oil. Transfer the mashed lotus paste to a wok, add sugar and maltose, and stir fry the paste over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. 

4. Then add the remaining cooking oil in two batches, and continue to stir fry until incorporated. Finally, add the maltose (and corn syrup if using) and keep stir frying until the paste is easily foldable and does not stick to the wok. Remove from heat and leave to cool completely.