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Pastries · FFET10274
Lao po bing is a Cantonese flaky pastry with a soft winter melon and glutinous rice flour filling.
A white porcelain plate holds flaky pastries with golden egg-wash coating and white sesame seeds, with soft candied winter melon and unsweetened dried coconut filling visible, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Cakes and pastries of every kind, baked, steamed or fried.
Lao po bing is a traditional Cantonese flaky pastry, especially associated with Guangzhou, Guangdong: a water-and-oil dough wraps a winter melon filling that usually includes cooked glutinous rice flour and sesame, and the top is slashed, brushed with egg and sprinkled with sesame before baking until golden. It originated in Guangdong, but the name's origin is unclear; the several existing explanations are folk tales without written evidence.
Lao po bing is a round, flaky pastry. The crust is a lard-based water-and-oil dough in many thin layers, and the filling is a sweet winter melon paste that usually includes cooked glutinous rice flour and sesame, soft and chewy.1,3,4,5
No dated record of this pastry was found; accounts of its origins are folk tales rather than documented events, and the origin of its name is unclear.1,2,3,4,5
Lao po bing is a traditional Cantonese pastry from Guangdong, especially associated with Guangzhou. Other places have their own versions; the Medan version in Indonesia, for example, differs from the Cantonese one.1,2,3,5
A water dough is wrapped around an oil dough, rolled out and rolled up to make layers; the winter melon filling is sealed inside, the ball is pressed into a disc, slashed, brushed with egg, topped with sesame and baked. One method bakes at 190 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes, then adds egg wash and sesame and bakes 20 to 25 minutes more; another bakes at 200 degrees Celsius in a convection oven for 20 to 22 minutes.4,5
The name's origin is unclear; existing explanations are folk tales without written evidence.1,2,3,4,5
The pastry has traveled: the version from Medan in Indonesia differs from the Cantonese one.5
Legend has it that a poor couple needed medicine for the husband's sick father, and the wife sold herself into service to raise the money. The husband later sold a flaky cake, earned enough to buy her back, and named the cake after her.
Told in: A folk tale from the Cantonese-speaking world, retold in an English-language magazine article and in the Chinese and English Wikipedia entries. No old book that records the story was found.
Another account says Lady Ma, wife of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming, made a portable cake of winter melon, wheat and sugar for rebel soldiers, who spread it around the country. The article calls this the less romantic version.
Told in: A folk tale told in a 2017 English-language magazine article. No old book that records the story was found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is how I make Cantonese lao po bing at home. The amounts for the doughs and filling and the baking follow a recipe blog by a named author, making 15 pieces; a second recipe by another named author uses fresh and candied winter melon and bakes differently, and I note the difference in the tips. Lard is pork fat. I judge the baking by color and take the pastries out when the tops are golden.
Allergens: wheat, egg, sesame
