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Hóng Kitchen

Wife Cake (Lou Po Beng)

Chinese · Medium · Makes 12 pastries

Wife Cake (Lou Po Beng)
Wife Cake (Lou Po Beng)
The Cantonese bakery's flakiest legend and the winter melon's sweet secret: the flaky pastry's many thin layers (the water dough and the oil dough's laminated argument) wrapped around the winter melon paste's chewy-sweet heart, baked to the golden, paper-thin crust's shatter — the lou po beng ("wife cake") whose name carries the legend of the wife's sacrifice and whose texture carries the bakery canon's finest flake. The technique is the two doughs' lamination and the melon paste's set, the two crafts at the pastry's one legend.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The water dough

The oil dough

The winter melon filling

The finish

- The filling's set and its chill: the squeezed melon's cook with the sugar at the 8-minute reduction (the water's driven argument to the thick, jammy paste), the glutinous flour's stir at the set's body — the five-spice's whisper through — and the paste's chilled roll to the 12 balls' firm argument. - The two doughs' rest and the lamination's plan: the water dough's knead to the smooth, pliant (the 10-minute argument) and the oil dough's mere mix to the soft, fat-laden crumb — both rested 30 minutes at the cover — and the lamination's whole discipline planned: the water dough's wrap around the oil dough's heart, the roll-and-fold's repetitions at the flake's many layers.
Step 1. The lamination — the roll and fold's layered argument. The water dough's round wrapped fully around the oil dough's ball (the seam's pinch at the complete enclosure) — the parcel rolled to the oblong's even sheet and folded to the letter's three-fold — the fold's 10-minute rest — and the roll-fold's argument repeated (the two or three repetitions the working flake's law: the two doughs' many interleaved layers, the fat's every layer the steam's puff at the bake). Checkpoint — at the final roll's sheet: the dough runs the marbled, layered visibility (the two doughs' interleaved argument at the sheet's faint strata) and the pliant, unbroken surface — the torn sheet's single dough the lamination's certain failure.
Step 2. The fill and the bake — 22 minutes at the 200 °C argument. Each laminated round wrapped around the chilled filling's ball (the enclosing fold's pinch and the seam's under-side), rolled to the flat, wide pastry (the 8 cm argument) — the egg wash's brush, the sesame's scatter and the crown's score — and baked 22 minutes at the 200 °C oven to the golden, blistered flake. Checkpoint — the baked pastry runs the golden, visibly-layered crust (the edge's strata the lamination's proof at the cross-section's show) with the blister's fine crackle at the crown — the pale, single-layered argument the lamination's or the oven's failure's honest diagnosis.
Step 3. The cooled service and the legend's telling. The pastries cooled 15 minutes at the rack's patience (the filling's molten set the cooling's own law) — and the legend's telling at the table's first pastry: the wife's sacrifice the cake's own name's story, the bakery's honest romance. Checkpoint — the eating test: the crust's paper-thin shatter (the many layers' collapse at the bite's first argument) giving to the filling's chewy-sweet melon heart — the five-spice's whisper at the finish — the Cantonese bakery's flakiest legend at the one pastry's complete argument. Chef’s Note — the two doughs' lamination is the pastry's whole engineering and the Chinese bakery's flaky canon's shared law: the water dough's gluten structure and the oil dough's fat layers, interleaved at the roll-and-fold's repetitions, steam and puff apart at the bake's heat (the fat's every layer the separation's own argument) — the many thin, shatterable strata the single dough's certain refusal. The same lamination doctrine runs the wider flaky canon — the mooncake's flaky cousin and the scallion pancake's #12 layered argument — the one physics at the several pastries' seats.
Wife Cake (Lou Po Beng)

Wife Cake (Lou Po Beng)

Prep: 1 hour · Cook: 25 minutes · Total: About 1 hour 30 minutes · Makes 12 pastries

Ingredients

The water dough

  • 150 g plain flour, 20 g caster sugar, 20 g lard or butter
  • 75 ml warm water (the dough's pliant law)

The oil dough

  • 120 g plain flour, 60 g lard or butter (the fat's majority the flake's whole engineering)

The winter melon filling

  • 300 g winter melon (or the white radish's honest cousin), grated and squeezed to the dry
  • 80 g caster sugar; 2 tbsp (20 g) glutinous rice flour
  • ½ tsp (1 g) five-spice (the whisper's traditional warmth); 1 tbsp (15 g) sesame seeds' optional toast

The finish

  • The egg wash's single light brush; the sesame seeds' scatter; the bake's 200 °C argument
  • A knife's or the fork's decorative score at the crown

Instructions

  1. The lamination — the roll and fold's layered argument. The water dough's round wrapped fully around the oil dough's ball (the seam's pinch at the complete enclosure) — the parcel rolled to the oblong's even sheet and folded to the letter's three-fold — the fold's 10-minute rest — and the roll-fold's argument repeated (the two or three repetitions the working flake's law: the two doughs' many interleaved layers, the fat's every layer the steam's puff at the bake). Checkpoint — at the final roll's sheet: the dough runs the marbled, layered visibility (the two doughs' interleaved argument at the sheet's faint strata) and the pliant, unbroken surface — the torn sheet's single dough the lamination's certain failure.
  2. The fill and the bake — 22 minutes at the 200 °C argument. Each laminated round wrapped around the chilled filling's ball (the enclosing fold's pinch and the seam's under-side), rolled to the flat, wide pastry (the 8 cm argument) — the egg wash's brush, the sesame's scatter and the crown's score — and baked 22 minutes at the 200 °C oven to the golden, blistered flake. Checkpoint — the baked pastry runs the golden, visibly-layered crust (the edge's strata the lamination's proof at the cross-section's show) with the blister's fine crackle at the crown — the pale, single-layered argument the lamination's or the oven's failure's honest diagnosis.
  3. The cooled service and the legend's telling. The pastries cooled 15 minutes at the rack's patience (the filling's molten set the cooling's own law) — and the legend's telling at the table's first pastry: the wife's sacrifice the cake's own name's story, the bakery's honest romance. Checkpoint — the eating test: the crust's paper-thin shatter (the many layers' collapse at the bite's first argument) giving to the filling's chewy-sweet melon heart — the five-spice's whisper at the finish — the Cantonese bakery's flakiest legend at the one pastry's complete argument.

Troubleshooting

SymptomCauseFix
Crust's single layer, the flake refusedThe lamination's fold-count short, or the torn sheetThe full roll-and-fold's repetitions; the pliant dough's patience
Filling's leak at the bakeThe over-filled wrap, or the molten oven's rushThe chilled ball's measure; the 200 °C's honest clock
Pastry's argument toughThe water dough's over-workThe 10-minute knead and the full rest's patience

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The pastries keep 3 days at the sealed tin (the flake's slow softening the honest footnote; the oven's 3-minute re-crisp at 160 °C the fair revival); the filling's paste and the two doughs' separate holds the make-ahead's on-demand assembly. - The filling's variations run the red bean's and the lotus paste's other hearts at the identical lamination; the legend's own story (the wife's mackerel-selling sacrifice the Guangdong folk's argument) the bakery's told romance. The #91 egg tart's pastry and the #136 wife cake the Cantonese bakery canon's two crusts' different seats.