Mongo Hopia

 

If you are not familiar with Hopia, don't worry :D  It is mainly know within the Filipino community.  A pastry that is quite familiar is the Chinese version called Moon cakes.  It is really a mini pie but in a disk shape.  Growing up, we would always purchase it at the Filipino store by my house.  It was always a snack for us while waiting for dinner.  I was really excited when The Mother figured out how to make this.  My favorite has been the mung bean or mongo.  According to Wikipedia, the split bean is known as moong dal,Pesara [పెసర] (Telugu), which is green with the husk, and yellow when dehusked.  Mongo could be used in many forms from savory dishes or in my case, desserts.  The mongo is than surrounded by a flaky pie dough.

 

The Dough *or favorite pie dough recipe

Ingredients

3 cups Flour

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

2 tbsp corn syrup

 

Direction

1. First mix together the shortening and 1 cup of flour until it is fully incorporated and than chill for 30 minutes.
2. After the mixture is chilled, add the rest of the flour, water, oil, and corn syrup.
3. The dough should be solid but soft and sightly oily to touch.
4. divide the dough into 50 grams balls.
5. flatten the ball until flat disk leaving a little hill in the middle.
6. Place a small ball of filling into the middle and fold over the sides to make a disk.
7. Bake it for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees
8. After 10 minutes brush a egg wash over the hopia and continue to bake
   

   

Filling

Ingredients

1 Pack of moon beans (the yellow kind)

3-4 cups of water

2-2 1/2 cups of sugar

 

Directions

1. Place the moon beans into a deep skillet and add water until it is fully covered and about an inch of water above the moon beans.
2. Bring to a boil and than reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Stir continually to prevent burning. 
4. Once the beans become quite soft, add the sugar and stir constantly.
5. Once all the water is evaporated, transfer it into another container to cool.