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| How
Do I Make ... ? |
Cornish Pasty |
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Cornish Pasty is another
British dish that is not found in China. It originated
as being the staple food for Cornish tin miners, and
is now popular all over the world (Except China).
Original Cornish pasties were very large and would keep
a working man from feeling hungry throughout long days
spent down the mines. The traditional recipe calls for
cheap meat (Usually mutton or sometimes beef), chopped
potatoes and onion, wrapped together in a short crust
pastry and cooked. Modern versions are smaller, and
the recipe has altered to usually include either turnip
or swede. Other vegetables such as leek, peas and sweet
corn can be found in commercially made products. Salt
and pepper are used in all recipes.
With a little initiative you can make pasties using
any common meat such as chicken or pork. These are both
'white meats', so require slightly less cooking time.
Other common versions are cheese and ham or cheese and
potatoe. However, the basic recipe we will use is virtually
that for a meat and potatoe pie.
Recipe
Source:
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Jonno, China Expats, Foshan, China |
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| Websites:China
Expats.com |
| Jonno is a keen chef for friends
and family. He has cooked and interpolated many
dishes over the years, and invented ones of his
own: Most notably 'Splodge', which is based upon
Italian cuisine |
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Quick Tips:
1.
Use short crust pastry, not puff pastry.
2. As a rough guide, the weight of
flour used for the pastry should be about the same weight
as the meat. |
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| Let's get started:-
Jonno's Cornish Pasties |
| Ingredients: |
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For the pastry:
• 1 lb flour
• 4 oz lard
• 4 oz butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6-8
oz water
For the filling:
• 1 lb lamb or
beef
• 1 large or 2 small onions,
diced
• 8oz potatoe, diced
• 6 oz swede, diced
• 1
Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Pepper
• 1 beaten egg for glazing pastry
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Special Equipment Needed:
You will need an oven of some description to make this
dish. Other useful items include: pastry brush for glazing,
greaseproof paper (Parchment). Otherwise you should
have everything else in your kitchen.
| Method |
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Make the Short Crust Pastry:
1. Put flour in a bowl, add chopped
lard and butter, and crumble until it has a 'sandy'
feel.
2. Add in water a little
at a time and mix thoroughly. Continue until you
have a firm ball of pastry.
3. As
this is 'pie pastry', there is no need to set
it aside to rest. However, it is best to make
this first before the filling.
Tip:
For good pastry, keep the ingredients
cold, and even put fats into the refrigerator
to chill (You probably keep them there anyway).
Make the filling:
4.
All ingredients should be diced into
small cubes.
5. Put meat,
onions, potatoes and swede into a bowl and mix.
6. Add salt and pepper - a little
extra pepper may help.
Assemble
the Pasties:
7. Roll out the dough so that
it makes circles or ovals about the size of a
large side plate. This should be about as thick
as the side of a £1 coin. This recipe will make
two large or 3 smaller pasties.
8. Add in the uncooked filling
to the centre of each pastry casing.
9.
Carefully bring the side edges together
and crimp with your fingers. You can add a brushing
of beaten egg to the edges before gathering together,
but this is not essential.
10. Coat
pasties liberally with beaten egg for a golden
brown finish
11. Place on
greaseproof paper, a greased or non-stick baking
tray.
12. Many recipes state
you should make some holes in the pastry case
in order to allow the contents to breathe. This
is not essential, but perhaps better done with
a fork if you wish to do this yourself.
Cooking:
13. Place
on middle shelf of a preheated oven at 220 degrees
and cook for 10 minutes
14. Turn
down heat to 150 degrees and cook for a further
45 minutes, or until golden brown.
These can be eaten hot or cold. As with all home
made products, these should keep in the refrigerator
for several days.
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| Additional Recipes and Information: |
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To make a cheese and potatoe pie instead,
simply replace the meat above with 4oz of grated hard
cheese such as Cheddar or Lancashire.
Every recipe we researched gave differing ingredients
and quantities, so this is an interpretation of all
of them. Expats in China will be limited to what they
can obtain locally, although beef and lamb are available
in most large wet markets. Supermarkets will also sell
lamb rolled for use in Hot pot, and this can be adapted
for use in making this dish. |
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Videojug again provide an excellent video
walkthrough, although we prefer the above recipe
to the one they give. |
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About.com also provide an excellent video walkthrough
with slightly different emphasis and ingredients.
This is delivered by Elaine Lemm from England. |
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Waitrose provide yet another version of Cornish
Pastry, and this one is notable for also offering
other associated recipes. |
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This independent website specialises in pastry,
and includes a basic recipe for different versions
of Cornish Pasty and associated pastry wrapper.
Well worth a look before you begin baking. |
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This information is as supplied by ourselves, and ably
supported by our friends and various internet portals. |
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