Xian Rou Yue Bing (Savory Pork Mooncake)
There's no pussy in it! Mooncakes filled with gravy and crispy pie dough
Description
The complete opposite of the Cantonese mooncakes Japanese people know (sweet red bean paste with soft skin). The traditional mooncake of Shanghai/Jiangnan features a wildly flaky, multi-layered puff pastry crust stuffed with 'juicy minced pork' seasoned with scallions and soy. It's not sweet; it eats like a savory meat pie.
Restaurants serving Xian Rou Yue Bing (Savory Pork Mooncake)
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The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Cake flour
- All-purpose flour
- Lard(mandatory)
- Minced pork
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Scallion
- Ginger
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe & Differences]
- (Filling) Zero sweet paste. Knead minced pork with salt, soy, sesame oil, a dash of sugar, ginger, and scallions. Whip in water vigorously in one direction to create an incredibly juicy meat filling.
- (Pastry) Envelop an 'Oil Roux' (flour and pure lard) inside a 'Water-Oil Dough' (flour, water, lard).
- Roll out and coil up repeatedly to create a puff pastry with dozens of flaky layers like a croissant.
- Wrap the pork filling inside the dough, flattening it into a disc.
- (Baking) Unlike Cantonese mooncakes, no wooden molds are used for intricate patterns. Placed on a flat griddle (or oven), stamped with red food coloring reading 'Fresh Meat'.
- Bake until both sides are golden and the pastry shatters into flakes.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Roasted lard aroma、Pork meat juices
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Wrap minced pork in frozen puff pastry and bake)
Pairing
Hot Chinese Tea / Soup
Trivia
[Trivia] For the Mid-Autumn Festival, China has strict factions: 'North eats Sweet Mooncakes', 'South eats Savory Meat Mooncakes'. Historic Shanghai bakeries see hours-long massive lines for these freshly baked meat pies during the festival.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Must absolutely be eaten 'piping hot right out of the oven'. The flaky crust crumbles just by holding it. Biting through the shattering pastry releases a gush of boiling meat juices, exactly like a Xiao Long Bao.
Allergen
Wheat, Pork, Soybeans, Sesame