Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Hong Kong Char Siu Puff Pastry
港式叉燒酥
Recipe overview
Ready-rolled puff pastry encloses diced char siu in a lightly thickened sauce for flaky Hong Kong-style puffs.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 2 sheets, about 400 g chilled ready-rolled puff pastry
- 300 g cooked char siu, properly chilled
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1 egg
Char siu filling sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 60 ml water
- 1 tsp neutral oil
02
Tools
- knife and board
- nonstick frying pan
- spatula
- small bowls
- oven and lined tray
- fork
- pastry brush
- oven mitts
- food thermometer
03
Steps
Step 1
Prepare pastry
Following package directions, lay chilled pastry on parchment and let it soften just enough to fold while remaining cool.
Step 2
Dice char siu
Cut cooked char siu into small cubes; keep chilled until filling preparation.
Step 3
Dice onion
Peel and finely dice yellow onion.
Step 4
Mix thickening sauce
Whisk oyster sauce, light soy, sugar, cornstarch and 60 ml water until smooth.
Step 5
Soften onion
Heat 1 tsp oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat and cook onion about 3 minutes until soft.
Step 6
Add char siu
Add diced cooked char siu and stir-fry about 2 minutes until hot.
Step 7
Thicken filling
Pour in sauce and stir about 2 minutes until thick and coating the pork.
Step 8
Cool filling
Spread filling in a shallow bowl and cool about 15 minutes until no longer hot; never leave at room temperature over 2 hours.
Step 9
Preheat oven
Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Step 10
Cut pastry
Cut pastry into 16 similar rectangles for eight bases and eight tops.
Step 11
Fill, seal and brush
Spoon a little cool filling onto each base, cover with another rectangle and seal with a fork. Beat egg and brush a thin layer over tops.
Step 12
Bake and serve
Bake about 20–25 minutes until puffed and golden. Use a food thermometer to check thickest filling centre reaches 75°C for 30 seconds; keep baking if short. Rest briefly before eating.
Common mistakes
- Hot filling melts pastry fat; too much filling bursts seams; golden pastry alone does not confirm the filling was reheated.
Tips
Keep pastry cold and cool the filling before assembly. Store cooked char siu correctly and reheat only once. Oyster sauce contains shellfish; pastry and soy may contain gluten; egg is an allergen.
