Hello friends, strangers, and family folks! Maybe at this point it is an annual summer season sabbatical, but after several weddings, several work trips, moving (again but thankfully not cross country)–I’m back! Naturally, time away makes the heart grow fonder. So fond in fact that after the season of this year’s Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival–or in my partner’s case Tết Trung Thu!–has my nostalgia fueled mind dealing with hopia.

Now hear me out, there is a connection. Growing up among Vietnamese communities has me no stranger to the joys of mooncakes and all their variations, and growing up FilAm has me equally craving what I consider the pinoy cousin.

And for those looking for pictures, I’ll be adding in at a later time, unfortunately I had a peanut incident (those with food allergies may empathize, those without count yourselves blessed) that has me recovering instead of making these delicious snacks pronto.

Recipe below!

What is Hopia?

This mung-beany, pandan-y, or ube creamy when sweet, porky-onion or nutty when less sweet (hopia baboy anyone?) is a a flaky pastry with a dense, unctuous filling. Hopia debuted in the early 1900s.

The Hopia Mooncake Connection

For some who are food buffs, or are extraordinarily passionate about hopia, it may be no surprise that this treat has a connection to mooncakes. Ho-pian, Hokkien for good pastry (I have seen some places mention it as “good biscuit” but as I do not know any written Chinese/Hokkien I cannot confirm this). It is a emigration love child from the Fukienese peoples (people from Fujian).

Notice how there are so many ways to elude to this culture–福建 is the calligraphy equivalent but in Romanized English there are a few variations to refer to this region/culture/etc. as such I do hope that if I have misconstrued this that someone lets me know so I can kindly correct this!

Semantics aside, these are the same people who emigrated in the 1900s to Vietnam. Mooncakes in Vietnam pre-date this migration, but the romantic side of me finds it heartening to hear of these intersections in an era before globalization and today’s technology.

Hopia Made Step by Step (A Gluten Free Experiment)

Making hopia dough is a distinct process. Unlike mooncakes which rely on one batch of dough, hopia dough uses two doughs, one with a higher fat content and one without, that are layered together to create the flaky texture so iconic of the Filipino pastry. If this cues butter lamination for those more familiar with French pastries, and I would love to dive deeper into exploring if this was synchronicity in motion or more fruits of cultures and techniques coming together.

And for those wondering, this dough version is gluten free and vegan, buckwheat flour is gluten free and I have a fun little snippet on how shortening is vegan here.

To make this version, I have both the condensed recipe below and a more thorough walkthrough as follows:

To Make the Hopia Dough, Prepare Two Separate Bowls

In the bowl meant for Dough 1, add the related amounts of buckwheat flour, shortening, water (with sugar ideally dissolved in it), and salt. Mix until just incorporated–while this is the flaky portion of the dough, if the dough looks too dry and is not coming together, add small amounts of water until cohesive.

In the bowl meant for Dough 2, add the related amounts of buckwheat flour and shortening. Mix until smooth.

Creating the Flaky Layers (Rolling Doughs)

Lightly flour a flat surface. Roll Dough 1 into a rectangle about 1/4″ or about 1/2 cm thick.

Centering over Dough 1 and 2/3 the size of Dough 1 (so that there’s a border of Dough 1 around all of Dough 2) roll Dough 2 on top of Dough 1.

Fold dough 1/3 of the way crosswise (also called “hamburger style” or like a letter–but really even I had to recall how people fold letters so maybe not the best descriptor). Fold the other uncovered 1/3 over the rest of the dough.

Roll back to rectangle shape. Repeat about two more times. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Filling and Baking

Roll dough into a log and cut into 12 equal pieces. My recommendation is to cut in two and then cut the now two rolls in half again, then cut the remaining (now four rolls) into three equal pieces.

When ready to fill, roll a piece flat and as thin as possible.

Take up to a tablespoon’s worth of filling and center in the flattened dough, pinch dough around the filling. Put pinched side down in a round cookie cutter, flatten to create the iconic coin shaped hopia.

Preheat oven to 350F (~180C) and apply egg (or sugar) wash onto the surface of the hopia. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil (slipat mats work as well). Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Gluten Free Hopia Recipe

Ingredients

Dough 1

  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 water

Dough 2

  • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/4 cup shortening

Filling & Hopia Wash

  • Literally anything, examples include ube halaya, sweetened mung bean paste, red bean paste, durian jam, etc.
  • 1 egg for egg wash or 1 tablespoon of sugar for sugar wash
  • 4 tablespoon (or 1/4 cup) of water

Steps

  1. Prepare Dough 1 by dissolving sugar into water and adding to buckwheat flour, shortening, and salt in a bowl. Mix until dough comes together. Set aside.
  2. Prepare Dough 2 by mixing buckwheat flour and shortening in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. On a floured surface, roll out Dough 1 into a rectangle about 1/4″ (or 1/2 cm) thick.
  4. Spread Dough 2 on an even layer on top about 2/3 the size of Dough 1 (centering Dough 2 as well, so every side will have a border of Dough 1 around it).
  5. Fold 1/3 from left or right side of dough crosswise. Fold the remained uncovered 1/3 of dough over the rest of the dough. Roll back to rectangle shape.
  6. Repeat Step 5 2 more times. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Roll into a log.
  8. Cut into 12 equal pieces.

To Fill and Bake

  1. Roll a piece of dough flat and as thin as possible.
  2. Take up to a tablespoon of filling and put in center of flattened dough.
  3. Pinch dough closed and flip over, placing the ball of hopia in a cookie cutter and press down to make the iconic thick coin like shape.
  4. Pre-heat oven to 350 F (~180C). Make a traditional egg wash (1 egg white and 4 tablespoons of water) to brush on top of the hopia before baking. If making it vegan, make some sugar water and apply (results may vary).
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes on a lined baking sheet. 

Notes

  1. Pastry molds with flattening press can make a hopia faster if planning to make in bulk.
  2. Other vegan egg wash substitutes can be as elaborate as aquafaba to soaked flax seed water. Sugar water was an accessible recommendation.

Stay Hungry
XOXO
Mish  ❤

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