Assorted Chinese Pastries

Chinese Pastries

Origin: Chinese Super Market
Type: Pastry
Description: Flaky pastry with filling

Green Tea Pastry

The first pastry we tried was the green tea pastry. The outside has what appears to be tea flakes but they don't have much flavor. The crust or pastry part on the outside is extremely dry and brittle. It gets all over the place when you bite into it. The inside is a squishy but dense green tea flavored filling. It's a little bit sweet and savory. The flavor isn't strong at all, and the texture on the inside is reminiscent of what you would find in daifuku.

Red Bean Pastry

The outside pastry has sesame seeds. The pastry of this one is about the same as the last. Flaky, dry, and pretty bland. Inside is red bean paste. Red bean paste is used in all sorts of food throughout China, Japan, and Korea. It is also sweet and savory. The texture is like a thick sweet paste. It has a unique flavor and goes well with many treats, including this pastry.

Winter Melon Pastry

This pastry has nothing special on the outside, just the same bland crust again. The inside contains winter melon flavored filling. Winter melon by itself is already pretty much flavorless. In Asian cuisines it's mainly used as a vegetable in savory dishes like stews. Here the winter melon paste is as bland as ever. I would not recommend this one, it's bland over all and has little to no flavor what so ever.

Taro Pastry

The outside of this one has some crushed nuts on the top. The crust is the same. Inside of this one, however, you will be delighted to find taro paste. Taro is sometimes called "purple yam". It tastes a little like sweet potato with flowery tones. When cooked, it is light purple in color. This taro pastry is second sweetest with the red bean being the first sweetest.

Overall these pastries are worth trying. My personal favorite is the Green Tea pastry. It's savory, sweet, and has the most balanced flavor. My least favorite was the winter melon, it was a chore to finish. I wouldn't recommend eating these everyday, though I did buy a few extra to eat on mornings when I may be too tired to make breakfast. Because of the dryness of the pastries themselves, these are best eaten with coffee or tea.