Anita's Playground : Crispy Taro Dumpling (Pateso/PateChaud)

Hi everyone, it has been ages since the last time i posted a recipe. I have been occupied with things, life in general. That did not stop me, I have been cooking a lot lately but just did not have enough time to blog what I cook so here is one of the recipe I have recent experienced. I hope you find it helpful and enjoyable!.. :)

This recipe is called Crispy Taro Dumping, Pateso/PateChaud. It has so many name but overall it is almost the same around the world. I believe in South America also have something similar which is called "Empanadas" and I also made some as well. For our Asian countries we also have the same but the filling is slightly different. For this recipe, I made a Taro Dumpling, it is made from taro for its crust, it is an Vietnamese/Chinese inspired appetizer.
See below for my recipe, I got a basic way of doing it from youtube but I twisted and turned into something different for mine and it turned out pretty good.
It is very delicious, the taro makes everything come together and very crunchy but such a time consuming and a lot of work but it's worth the try. :)

You will need:

The Crust:

Taro (Fresh or frozen): 3 roots
All purpose flour: 1 1/2 cup
Luke warm Water: 1 cup
Salt: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar: 1 tbsp
Unsalted butter (room temp.): 2 tbsp
Vegetable oil: 2 - 3 liters

Filling:

Minced pork: 1/2 kilogram
Onion: 1 (big)
Garlic: 2 cloves
Salt: 1 tsp
Sugar: 2 tsp
MSG (option): 1 tsp
White pepper: 2 tsp
Soy sauce: 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil: 2 tsp
All purpose flour: 1 1/2 tbsp

Process:

Once you have your taro roots, peel out the skin, cut in chunks or as big or small as you like, I did cut mine in quite a big chunks. Wash them good with salt (Taro is very sticky and gluey, I suggest you to wear gloves while working with taro because if you do not wash your hand good enough, it makes it itchy). Once you have washed and drained them dry, place on a tray, heat up your steaming pot and let is steam for a good 1 hour (Leave it, you do not need to peek). :)

While that is steaming, time to prepare your filling. For this recipe I use pork because that's what the original recipe contains, if you cannot consume pork and prefer other kinds of meat I suggest you can go for either minced chicken or minced beef but make sure it has enough of its natural fats otherwise, it will make the meat quite hard.

Peel the onion, chop in small pieces and food process it with garlic. Onion has its own natural liquid, it is best to drain it out to avoid the meat becoming too water. Drain out the liquid and place in a bow.
In a bowl, add the minced pork, and the rest of the ingredients except sesame oil and all purpose flour (You will have to add that last).
Mix it well, Add sesame oil and all purpose flour.
I always microwave a small amount of my filling to taste, see if it needs anymore ingredients or it's enough. Better to taste it then find out it is too salty later. Hehe..
Once it is well tasted and done, place plastic wrap over it and refrigerator it for later assembling.
Check the taro, it is all cooked and sticky, it means it is done. Take it out from the steamer. Smash it like you would smash a potato. I did smash it and figure I would food processing it for a finer paste and it did turn out well. If you smash it finely enough then there is no need to food process it.

I normally would prepare my wet ingredients separately, so in a small cup goes in water, all purpose, flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, baking powder. Mix well.

Once the taro is all smashed and in a fine paste. Add in butter and mix well again.

Then add the flour mixture into the bowl and mix well until combined.

Plastic wrap it and refrigerator to let it firm up a little for 30 minutes.
Here comes the fun and sticky time, prepare a small bowl of vegetable oil to coat your hand and prevent from sticking all over the place.
Place the mixture onto your hand in a ball shape and tap it flatten and add the minced pork, wrap it up together and sealed completely. Also coat the vegetable oil onto the plate or the tray that you will be using to place on the dough. Continue until you finish.
Heat up your frying pan with the vegetable oil, this recipe calls for a lot of vegetable oil to fill up at least half of the pan or pot that you will be frying in, it helps your dough to float and makes it crispy.
Once your oil is hot enough (not too hot that will burn), place on the dough and also shape again.

Leave it for a good 30 - 40 seconds then you can start stirring. It is best to stir constantly so the dough gets equal heat and avoid darken on only one side.
Once it reaches the golden brown color, take them out and drain.