They are easy to find at your nearest Asian grocery/supermarket or your Chinese herbalist. Choosing and Preparing Lotus Seedsįor lotus seed paste, dried lotus seeds are what I usually use. Compared to commercially made lotus seed pastes, it will give less of a stick-to-your-teeth-mouth-and-back-of-your-throat feel and texture. I’ve also decreased the amount of oil and sugar to make it healthier while retaining a similar texture to traditional lotus seed fillings in mooncakes. This recipe uses only lotus seeds as its main ingredient with no fillers. Making lotus paste at home means you can control the purity of your filling, the texture, the amount of oil and the sweetness of the final product. In the case of mooncakes, it will still cost you an arm and a leg for a box of lotus seed mooncakes (total daylight robbery, if you ask me). The downside to commercially made lotus seed paste and commercial pastries with lotus seed filling, especially with mooncakes, is fillers such as potatoes and kidney beans are often used to keep production costs down. Lotus seeds, raw or dried, do not come cheap. They are great for those who don’t have time to make the paste or need it urgently for their pastries. Ready-made lotus seed paste is available at most Chinese supermarkets or grocers. Traditionally this is used in Chinese medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants. Nutritionally, the lotus seeds are full of plant protein, vitamins and minerals. Lotus seeds, which some people also call lotus nuts, are seeds from the lotus plant. Here is my version of the lotus seed paste I use for my mooncakes. While I love giving my taste buds a dose of nostalgia by following traditional recipes, I also love to put a healthier spin on my dishes and provide a vegan option for my green-eating friends. In keeping with tradition, many Chinese pastries and fillings, including lotus seed paste, are usually made with lard. mooncake season) just around the corner, I thought I would share my recipe with you. A bonus of this filling is it’s gluten-free. A well-made lotus seed paste is sweet, smooth, a little sticky and has a slightly caramelized flavour with an underlying tone of nutty fragrance unique to lotus seeds. Following is my batch for the mooncakes of this year.Lotus seed paste (called lianrong ‘莲蓉) is a sweet filling usually found in traditional Chinese pastries such as sesame balls, steamed buns and mooncakes. If you plan to use it for mooncakes, remember to fry the paste until very dry. If you plan to use it later, remember to cover with plastic wrapper to prevent drying out. Continue stir until the water is almost evaporated and the mixture can form a sticky paste texture. Each time after adding the oil, stir the paste until all oil is well absorbed.
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