Wondering what the cutest dish on the blog is right now? Well, it's these mini meat pies with soy sauce right here. A flakey puff pastry stuffed with delicious, juicy and flavourful meat inside. Thanks hubby, for another amazing dish.
The inspiration behind these mini meat pies comes from thousands of miles away in my hubby Danny's birthplace of Shanghai, China. Back in China, these meat pies are normally made using pork and are better known as "Shanghai style pork mooncakes". Here, Danny combines his love for western cuisine and Asian cuisine in one dish. The meat is marinated with Asian flavours, but baked in a Western-style puff pastry.
What is Mooncake?
Mooncake is traditionally made and served during the mid-autumn festival, which fell on September 13 this year. The mid-autumn festival is essentially a big family reunion, similar to Thanksgiving. Families get together to celebrate during the autumn full moon and enjoy mooncake together. But for those who cannot get together with their families, they can look up at the moon and feel comfort that their family far away is also looking up at the same moon. This is really what the mooncake symbolizes.
How to Fold Mini Meat Pies
It is actually quite easy to fold these mini meat pies. You add a scoop of filling at the centre of your dough and bring the edges up, enclosing the filling. Then, pleat the sides together into a little bag to seal the mixture inside. Flip the pastry over and press down gently to shape it into a disc.
Recipe
Mini Meat Pies with Soy Sauce
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 8 puff pastries
Description
Mini meat pies with soy sauce are flakey puff pastries stuffed with delicious and juicy meat inside marinated with Asian flavours.
Ingredients
Meat Filling:
- ½ lb. ground beef
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon scallion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pastry Dough:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup ice water
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (for garnish)
Instructions
Meat Filling:
- In a large bowl, combine beef, onion, scallion, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Place the meat filling in the refrigerator for at least one hour to marinate.
Pastry Dough:
- Add flour, butter, sugar, and salt into a food processor. Pulse mix on and off for 1 minute until the mixture turns into smaller pieces of dough (similar to green peas).
- Drizzle ice water into the mixture. Close the lid and pulse mix on and off for another minute; this time the flour mixture will turn into a bread crumbs consistency.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Place your crumby dough onto the work surface. Squeeze them all together and bring in all the loose crumbs until you form a nice and smooth dough. Shape the dough into a disc.
- Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Assembling and Baking:
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll out each piece into a round circle approximately 5-inch in diameter, and ⅛-inch thick.
- Put 1 and ½ tablespoons of meat filling at the centre of each circle. Bring the edges up, enclosing the filling and pleat the sides together into a little bag to seal the mixture inside (see photos above in post). Flip the pastry over and press down gently, using your hands, to shape it into a disc.
- Place pastries on a parchment-lined cooking tray. Brush egg wash on top of each pastry and sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.
- Bake for 28 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes + waiting time
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
Nick says
I made these a couple of days ago and I have to say I was overly impressed with the results. All the tasty ingredients create an explosion of flavours in your mouth so much so that you kinda pause and go "Hmmmm omg what is this?" I am usually overly critical of my own cooking but not this time. I gave myself 10/10 😉 I marinated the meat filling overnight, but for the rest of it I followed the recipe to a T. I was also very impressed with the texture and the consistency of the dough, so I am planning to use it for other fillings as well. Thanks a lot for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us!
★★★★★
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you so much Nick, this makes me so happy! I'm so glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
One more bite plz says
Love Shanghai food! Amazing recipe
★★★★★
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says
Oh these look so good and perfect for a get together! I love Asian-inspired flavors and these would be a huge hit in my house!
★★★★★
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
That's great to hear! Let me know how it goes!
Amanda Mason says
I love that these are asian inspired! They look delish and can I say yeah for finding another ground beef recipe!! Love the uniqueness of this!! Can't wait to try it!!
★★★★★
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Thanks! Let me know how it goes!