Read Quick & Easy Chinese Online
Authors: Nancie McDermott
Quick & Easy Chinese (41 page)
An inspiration from Chinese American restaurant traditions in the West, fortune cookies are factory made, treasured for their message, shape, and crunch rather than for flavor or ancient Chinese roots. Fellow cookbook author Sara Perry created an orange-flavored version for her wonderful book
Holiday Baking
(see page 182), and it is my good fortune that she kindly shared it with me. This is my version of her recipe. As for the fortunes, think short and sweet, and begin by writing them on slips of paper, using edible ink. For best results, Sara suggests you line your baking sheet with a reusable nonstick baking sheet liner, such as a Silpat, since it completely prevents these particularly delicate cookies from sticking to the pan.
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup sugar
1
/
8
teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites at room temperature
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
MAKES 12 TO 16 COOKIES
NOTE
Sara Perry makes these into small, elegant cylinders, rolling them up as they come off the pan. If you do it this way, you can wait and tuck a fortune into the hollow center of each cookie later, even right before serving time
.
Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with a reusable nonstick sheet liner or parchment paper, and set aside. Place the fortunes, a big measuring cup, a bowl of ice water, and a 12-cup muffin tin next to the stove so that you can use them in shaping the cookies while they are hot from the oven.
In a medium bowl, use a whisk or a fork to stir together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt, until well and evenly blended together.
Add the oil, egg whites, orange juice, vanilla, and orange zest. Using an electic mixer, beat at high speed until smooth.
Start with just 2 cookies at a time, dropping the batter by level tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread each portion into a 4-inch diameter cookie. Bake until the edges start to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
Using a wide thin flexible spatula, lift each cookie off the baking sheet. (If it begins to tear or bunch up, let it cool for another 15 to 20 seconds. If it cools too much on the pan and won’t come off, return it to the oven to resoften for about 1 minute more.)
Place a fortune in the center of each cookie and quickly fold in half. Pick up one of the cookies by the rounded top, and place the folded side on the edge of the measuring cup. Press down gently to bend the folded corners down into the standard fortune cookie shape. Repeat with the other cookie, and place the shaped cookies gently in empty cups in the muffin tin to cool. (Dip your fingers into the ice water and dry them to keep them cool as you work.)
Continue baking and shaping the remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container, and enjoy within 2 days.
Visit a dim sum parlor at lunchtime and you’ll probably find these sunny yellow tartlets among the few sweet items offered from carts wheeled around the large, lively room. Flaky pastry cradles a silken custard in this classic Hong Kong–style dim sum item. Traditionally made with a multilayered lard pastry, these tarts can be made in a streamlined version using prepared puff pastry or pie crust. The crucial steps of making a simple syrup for the custard and baking the tartlets slowly at a low heat are easy to accomplish, so the results are simple and superb.
1 package frozen puff pastry or 1 package refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
4 eggs
½ cup milk
MAKES
12
TARTLETS
b
To prepare the tartlet shells, set the frozen puff pastry dough out on the countertop and allow it to thaw until soft enough to unfold the dough. Generously grease the muffin cups in a 12-cup muffin pan. Open one of the two pieces of dough into a single layer, and cut the rectangle into 9 equal pieces, each one about 3 inches square. Open the second piece of dough and make 3 more 3-inch squares in the same way. Fold the remaining dough and freeze for another use.
Using a rolling pin, roll each piece to about 4 inches square, and then place it loosely in a muffin cup. Press and shape to line the bottom and sides completely and well, letting the four points extend out above the rim. When you have lined 10 to 12 of the cups with puff pastry, set the pan in the freezer for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight. (To use prepared pie crust, cut 4-inch squares and fit them into the generously greased muffin cups, piecing and pressing them together. You will need about 1½ crusts for this dish.)
To make the custard filling, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a lively boil over medium heat. Stir well just until the sugar dissolves into a clear syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Heat the oven to 300°F.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs very well until smooth. Add the cooled syrup and the milk and beat until everything is completely mixed together smoothly and well.
When the oven is hot, remove the pastry shells from the freezer and add about 2 tablespoons of filling to each one. Bake at 300°F for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and flaky and the custard is shiny and smooth and puffed up.
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan to room temperature. To remove cooled pastries from the muffin pan, work each one loose from its spot in the muffin tin, using a dull table knife to break it away from the tin.
Serve at room temperature, or warm.