Lotus seed paste is a Chinese dessert ingredient made from dried

lotus seed Lotus or LOTUS may refer to: Plants * List of plants known as lotus, a list of various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: **'' Nelumbonaceae'', a single-genus family of aquatic flowering plants, consisting of just two species ...

s. It is traditionally considered a luxurious ingredient.

Production

The process for making the paste is similar to that of smooth

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or ...

. First, the dried seeds are stewed in water until soft prior to being mashed into a fine paste. The paste is then watered down to a thin

slurry A slurry is a mixture of denser solids suspended in liquid, usually water. The most common use of slurry is as a means of transporting solids or separating minerals, the liquid being a carrier that is pumped on a device such as a centrifugal pu ...

and passed through a sieve and into

cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking. The fabric has holes large enough to quickly allow liquids (like whey) to percolate through the fabric, but small enough to retain solids lik ...

, with which it is squeezed dry. This produces a fine crumbly paste, which is then mixed with sugar or other sweeteners and, often, oil to produce a smooth, sweet paste.

Use

China

The lotus paste used by most Chinese cooks requires further preparation by dry

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

the sweetened paste over heat with

caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

ized sugar and vegetable oil. This produces a lotus paste that is tan in colour with a satiny sheen. It is also rich, sweet, silky with a slight fragrance of caramel. Some cooks choose to treat the dried lotus seeds with a

lye Lye is the common name of various alkaline solutions, including soda lye (a solution of sodium hydroxide) and potash lye (a solution of potassium hydroxide). Lyes are used as cleaning products, as ingredients in soapmaking, and in various other c ...

solution before initially stewing them in order to shorten their cooking time.China tyfo
Lotus paste is used in Chinese cuisine as a filling for

mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. ...

, ''

baozi Baozi (), or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often steaming, steamed. They are a variation of ...

'', and other sweet pastries. Another common use of lotus paste is as a filling for lotus seed buns, a

dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cu ...

item. Due to the high price of lotus seeds, commercially prepared lotus pastes may also contain white kidney bean paste as its filler. There are several variations, some of which are darker, close to black in color. These usually have a deeper taste.

References

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Production

Use

China

References

See also