Baked BBQ Chicken Crisp - Char Siew So

I must be getting old. For some reason, I assume that I have enough Baked BBQ Pork Pasrty in my freezer from the last batch I have made. That would have been great to be served as an appetizer for Easter this weekend. Thank God I decided to check on my inventory today. There were only 9 of those babies left, which makes me wonder,"What happened to the rest?"

It is already Thursday and I still have a ton of stuff to do, according to my schedule. Yes, I have a 7-day preparation schedule for any party I am planning for. Wait till Thanksgiving is around the corner. Anyway, I have to make more of those pastry in order to have enough for everyone. That is when Char Siew So or Baked BBQ Pork Crisp comes into play.

The difference between BBQ Pork Pastry and BBQ Pork Crisp is the pastry. The earlier requires a multi-layer pastry whereas the crisp highlights a flaky thin pastry, hence its name. It is a lot easier to make the crisp too as it omits the countless folding and rolling process. For novice baker, I will definitely recommend trying this recipe before graduating to the more complicated pastry recipe.

The thing I love most about the recipe is the crispy dough. It is the perfect envelope for either sweet or savory filling. I have used this dough to make jam-filled pockets and chicken curry pockets. As I do not have any prepared BBQ pork on hand, I decided to go ahead and make the filling with chicken instead. The result is just as good.

Baked BBQ Chicken Crisp - Char Siew So
(Adapted from Lily's Wai Sek Hong)
(Makes 24)

Ingredients

For the Pastry
10 oz all purpose flour
3 oz cold butter
2 1/2 oz shortening
2 oz sugar
1 oz cold water
1 egg yolk plus 1 tsp water for glazing

For the Filling
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 carrot, diced
1 stalk scallion, sliced thin
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp cooking wine or dry sherry
dash of pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch plus 1 Tbsp water

Directions

Step 1: Mix all the pastry ingredient except for the water.

Step 2: Using a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening and butter into the flour mix. It will take about 3-5 minutes.

Step 3: The flour mix should resemble coarse bread crumbs when all the fat are completely mix into the flour.

Step 4: Add in the water to the flour mix.

Step 5: Mix the water into the flour mix. Add an additional teaspoon of water to the mix if it is not moist enough to gather into a ball. Squeeze the dough together to form a ball.

Step 6: The pastry dough should look smooth like this.

Step 7: Wrap the pastry dough with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

Step 8: Meanwhile, prepare all the filling ingredients and seasoning.

Step 9: Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a pan over medium high heat.

Step 10: Saute chicken breast till cooked.

Step 11: Dish out and set aside in a bowl.

Step 12: Add a teaspoon of oil into the pan. Saute onion till translucent.

Step 13: Add in carrot and mushrooms. Continue to cook till carrot has softened.

Step 14: Once all vegetables are caramelized, add in the chicken meat.

Step 15: Add in seasoning. Cook for another min. Stir in the scallion. Finish off with the cornstarch and water slurry. Cook till all sauces has thickened.

Step 16: Dish out in a bowl and let cool.

Step 17: Once dough is done resting, divide dough into 24 equal portions.

Step 18: Roll the dough into a ball.

Step 19: Place a piece of dough onto a wax paper.

Step 20: Cover with another piece of wax paper. Flatten dough with the palm of your hand.

Step 21: Using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough into a rectangle, about 3"x5".

Step 22: Gently, peel the wax paper off the dough. Repeat with the other side to ensure dough is not sticking to the wax paper.

Step 23: Place about 1 teaspoon of filling onto dough. Fold all edges together to form a parcel. Make sure that filling is fully enclosed.

Step 24: Place pastry onto a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.

At this point, you can go ahead and bake it or place it in the freezer for later use. To bake later, just place pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash. Bake for the full 20 mins. No need to defrost.

Step 25: Preheat oven to 400F or 200C. Combine egg yolk and a teaspoon of water. Brush pastry with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes or till golden brown. Mine takes 15 minutes when bake right away after forming the pastry.

The BBQ Chicken crisp came out light and flaky, comparable if not better than those served at Dim Sum place.