Mid-Autumn Festival Series: Homemade Lotus Seed Paste

Continuing with our Mid-Autumn Festival Series , this is the 1st part of the Traditional Mooncakes. There are a few steps in making the Traditional Mooncakes, so I decided to break it down into three posts. This will be the first. It will focus on Homemade Lotus Seed Paste.

Lotus seed paste is a smooth and sweet ingredient made from dried lotus seeds. Traditionally, it is a luxurious ingredient. Lotus seed paste is commonly used in lotus buns as well as mooncakes. Of course you can buy canned lotus seed paste, but I love to make things from scratch when I can. Also, I find that the homemade version has a much better fragrance as well, in as well, I can control the amount of sugar in it.

You can find them at Asian Supermarkets such as T&T Supermarket, Chong Li’s, 88 Supermarket, as well as traditional Chinese herbal stores.

Mid-Autumn Festival related posts:

Homemade Golden Syrup – 黄金糖浆

Homemade Lotus Seed Paste Rainbow Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes

Snow Skin Coconut Custard Mooncakes

Snow Skin Taro Mooncakes made with Fried Glutinous Rice Flour

Suzhou Savoury Mooncakes

Taro Root Filling for Mooncakes or other yum pastries

Traditional Lotus Seed Paste Mooncakes

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Homemade Lotus Seed Paste

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

170 grams (1 1/2 cups) dried lotus seeds 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar 85 ml cooking oil 1/2 teaspoon maltose syrup or honey

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse the lotus seeds under cold water.

2. Soak in cold water for 2 hours. Strain the lotus seeds through a wire sieve into the sink.

3. After 2 hours, open the lotus seeds to remove the green core, if you find any.

4. Wash and rinse the split lotus seeds under cold water. Add the lotus seeds to a large saucepan and add enough water to cover an inch above the lotus seeds.

5. Bring to boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 1 hour. Place the lid on slightly ajar so that it does not overboil.

6. Allow the lotus seed to cool down and then strain the lotus seeds through a wire sieve.

7. Blend the lotus seeds in the food processor, in batches if needed. Add about 1/4 cup of water to help the puree process.

8. Run the puree through a sieve to make sure there are no chunks so the end paste is smooth.

9. Heat a skillet on high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil.

10. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar to the oil and cook until the sugar dissolves and turns golden, about 2-3 minutes.

11. Reduce heat to medium, then add lotus seed puree to the skillet, and the remaining sugar. Mix well. The mixture will start to golden.

12. Gradually add the remaining oil to the mixture. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, this will take about 15 to 20 minutes.

13. Add in syrup or honey and keep stirring until well combined.

14. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Once cooled it’ll be ready to use. The puree can be stored in an air-tight container and keep in fridge up for 2 to 3 weeks, or stored in the freezer for longer time.

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