Lotus seed paste for sale crack#
Crack open to check and remove the green germ sprout even if you have purchased cored dried lotus.Make sure to soak the lotus paste over night or for at least 8 hours or you will end up with overcooked and uncooked bits of lotus.You can start cooking once all your lotus seeds are split, and all germs are removed. If there is, remove the whole germ, including the white root attached to the bottom of the seed. Once the seeds are soaked, you should be able to split the seeds in half from the top opening using your fingers and check if there is a germ inside. The seeds take a long time to rehydrate and are impossible to work within their dried form. To prepare the lotus seeds for cooking, they must be well-rinsed under running water and soaked overnight in fresh cold/room-temperature water. Anything other than the halved seeds means you must split them yourself to double-check and remove the germ. Hence, finding halved dried lotus seeds will save you lots of time and effort.
Take out and discard the germ when using lotus seeds because they have an unpleasant bitter taste, and one little sprout can ruin a whole batch of lotus seed paste. The number one pain point when cooking with lotus seeds is the little green sprout -the germ- at the centre of the lotus seed. You can identify them by the little hole they punch through the lotus at the bottom of the seed. The halved lotus seeds are preferable, but if they aren’t available, then whole dried lotus with the centre germ removed is the next preference. Whole dried lotus, whole dried lotus with the centre germ (green sprout at the centre of the seed) removed or halved lotus seeds dried with no centre germ. Dried lotus seeds will usually come in one of three forms. 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.
Lotus seed paste for sale full#
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. 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.
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