Hopia Recipe

I love food and love to prepare food, most especially for my family. My pamangkins (nephews and nieces) make me feel that I’m the best cook this side of town.  I think they’re either too polite or just pulling my leg (binobola lang nila ako). 

 
Anyway, they all seem to anticipate the occassional Sundays that I cook. I don’t call myself a chef. That would be too pretentious and overly ambitious. I simply give myself the monicker “cooker“. As ridiculous and funny sounding it may be, I pay no mind the people that say that there is no such word in the Queen’s English.  

However, a baker I am not.  I don’t like to bake cake and eat it, too. I just want to eat it. You can buy me the best cheesecake Europe and America can offer, prepare for me the best English pudding, bake for me the most heavenly yet sinful Belgian chocolate cake…but I’ll still take the Chinoy (Chinese Pinoy) mung bean pastry anytime. Besides, I think I’ll do a better job doing a comparative critique on all the Hopia available in the market.

After 20 posts, I have neither described hopia nor blogged about it.  I feel I am doing a bit of an injustice to this well-loved pastry. I got this recipe from google search (many thanks to Lyn and Lucy Parrone) 

There are 13 steps in preparing Hopia as against 300 steps from my house to the local Chinese Store where they sell fresh Hopia Monggo. Obviously, the 300 steps always win me over.  It’s hot and fresh and probably prepared by a sweaty Chinaman from the Fujian province who might also be overstaying in Binondo.

Enjoy!

Hopia Mungo

INGREDIENTS:
Munggo Filling: 1 lb. or 14 oz (1 package) yellow peeled split mung beans. One package is enough for 2 recipes. I usually make the whole package and then use up on 1/4 of it for my half-recipe dough and freeze the rest of the filling.) 2 1/2 cups sugar
Dough 1: cup Wondra flour (I did not know what Wondra flour is so I used all-purpose flour with good results.) 1/3 to 1/2 cup oil (any oil will do)
Dough 2: 2 cups All Purpose flour 1/2 cup oil 1/2 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Make Munggo Filling: 1. Soak the mung beans in 5 cups of water overnight.
2. When you cook it, add 2 more cups of water and boil mung beans until mashed.
3. Add sugar and mix until lapot (sorry, the english word has escaped my mind momentarily…okay, I remember…mix until you get a thick consistency)

Make Dough 1: 1. Mix well and then divide into 4 parts.

Make Dough 2: 

1. Mix thoroughly and smoothen mixture (smooth – no streaks or bubbles).  

Lyn’s note: I am a chemistry student, and I do remember the phrase ‘Like dissolves like’. Since oil and water are immiscible (they do not mix), I added first the oil, mixed that well, and then the water. I had the feeling I should have done it the other way around, but I think that the results are the same no matter how it is done.

2. Divide mixture into 4 parts.
3. Flatten with hands into 8 inches long, 4 1/2 inches wide and about 1/4 inch deep square.

Prepare Hopia: 

1. Sprinkle Dough 1 on top of Dough 2.
2. Pat lightly making sure not to put too much pressure. The trick is not to mix the 2 doughs.

3. Then roll with your hands as if rolling a jelly roll (Sorry about this… I’m not really a baker and since I learned how to make hopia by watching somebody do it, I’m making these procedures up).
4. Pinch the ends a teeny bit so that none of Dough 1 falls off the open ends.
5. Wrap each of the 4 logs in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Lyn’s note: I used was paper to wrap the logs. I think it is easier than plastic wrap.
6. Watch a little tv…
7. Beat 2 eggs and set aside.
8. Take the logs and cut each log into…say…5 or 6 parts.
Lyn’s note: The logs were rather oily, I had the feeling that oil was separating out or something.
9. Flatten each part and spread the mung filling over the middle of the dough.

Lyn’s note: when you are doing this, make sure that dough 2 is completely covering dough 1. Dough 2 is white, dough 1 is yellow. Make sure you haven’t any yellow peeking out or else you may run into problems after your hopia is cooked (e.g. not as flaky or the flakes come off too too easily as soon as you remove it from the oven)

10. Fold ends and pinch into a ball.
11. Invert the ball (so that the pinched end is at the bottom) onto a cookie sheet then flatten the top by patting ever so slightly. You don’t have to do this but if you don’t then your hopia will appear like little siopaos. I personally like mine to have flat tops. Bahala ka na.
12. Brush the top with the beaten eggs.
13. Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes. 

NOTES: This is half a recipe. That’s how I often make it. From this recipe, you’ll make about 20 hopias.
 

Enjoy a hearty merienda with your favorite pop drink or with milk, I found that drinking Sarsi and eating hopia is just a wee bit too sweet.

Lucy Parrone suggested that only 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil be used for Dough #1. When I used 1/2 cup of oil, after I took the logs out of the refrigerator, the oil started to separate out: that told me that perhaps there was too much oil, and that all the available flour dissolved into the oil. The crust, however was nice and flaky. When I used 1/3 cup of oil, it seemed that that amount fit the amount of flour used and the oil did not separate as much. However, the crust was less flaky.

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