CHILICOTE

The popular pastry that appeared at every major Macanese gathering

1 large or 2 small onions (chopped)
2 to 3 potatoes (cubed)
½ oz | 225 g minced pork
1½ tsp curry paste
3 tsp turmeric powder
salt and pepper to taste
dash of soy sauce to enhance colour and flavour
dash of sugar

Sauté onions in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in curry paste and turmeric powder and mix. Add minced pork, soy, salt and pepper, and cook until meat changes colour.

Add hot water about 12 mm above the meat and throw in cubed potatoes. Turn fire to medium low and simmer for approx. 20 minutes until meat is tender and all water is absorbed. Towards the end, stir often as it tends to stick and burn.

8oz | 225 g flour
2½ oz | 70g vegetable shortening or lard
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 or 5 egg yolks

Mix all ingredients and form into dough. Form into small balls and roll into 60 mm circles as thin as possible. Fill with the filling and seal edges with a white or water. Deep fry in medium hot oil and serve hot.

Easy shortcut method: Use wonton skin or siumai skins which can be purchased from local noodle shops .. but it is not the same!

Pastry:

2lb | 900g self-raising flour

eggs: 8 yolks, 2 whites

water

salt to taste

pork lard

pork lard or oil for frying

Filling:

Turmeric minchi (click to see recipe)

Sift the flour with a little fine salt and knead it, on the table, with the eggs. Add the lard little by little and continue kneading until the dough comes together.

Let it rest for half an hour. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and place spoonfuls of the filling in rows.

Cut with a circular pastry cutter, or with the edge of a glass, moisten the edge of the pastry with egg white and fold the pastry to form half moons. Then twist the entire length of the edge of pastry.

Fry in hot lard, oil or olive oil.

2 egg yolks
2 cups of plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp butter or table margarine
1 cup cold water

Put egg yolks in a bowl, add butter and stir. Then add about half cup of cold water first. Mix in dry ingredients. Then add the rest of the water to form the right consistency of dough.

Knead. Roll out and cut to size required (using a tumbler or round pastry cutter approximately 9mm in diameter).

Note: Though recipe calls for one cup of water, I find that’s too much. Pour in half cup first and then slowly add more water until right consistency is formed. The amount of water used after the first half cup depends on the weather.

This portion of pastry makes about 100 chillicotes.

12 oz | 350g minced pork(or pork and veal)
3 medium potatoes
3 medium onions (chopped)
2 tsp tumeric powder
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes, mash and leave.

Fry chopped onions then add tumeric powder, minced pork, salt and pepper and let simmer for a while.

Take off fire and add in mashed potatoes.

Use approximately one teaspoon of filling per chilicote.

Brush egg white around edge of pastry, fold pastry, seal and crimp edges, then deep fry.

PASTRY

½  lb  | 225g flour

3 egg yolks of egg (and if desired 1 white)  

1-2 tsp | 10-20 ml lard

Cold water with a good pinch of salt

STUFFING

½  lb  | 225g pork

1 oz  | 28g orelha de rato'rats' ears' | black fungus

4 spring onions

salt and pepper

grated cheese (optional)

1½   dsp  | 15ml lard for frying the pork

Mince the pork through a mincing machine.  

Wash the spring onions and cut into small pieces.  

Soak the  orelha de rato'rats' ears' | dried black fungus in hot or boiling water and, when they are soft, wash each piece well, taking off any parts that are very hard. Then rinse in cold water 2 or 3 times and chop fine.

Put the lard in a frying pan until it is very hot, fry the spring onions for about 1 minute then add the minced pork, fry for 5 minutes turning occasionally, add salt and pepper. Then add the finely chopped  orelha de rato'rats' ears' | dried black fungus and stir for a minute.  Lastly add enough water to cover half way this mixture and let simmer slowly, stirring now and then until there is no more gravy and it is just moist.

Remove from the fire and if desired add some grated cheese. Leave this stuffing mixture to cool fully.  

In the meantime, roll out ¼  of the dough, about 14-16″ | 35-40cm long and about 6″ | 15cm wide. Roll out as thinly as possible, but not so thin that it may break. If it sticks a little, put just a little flour on the board.   When the dough is rolled out to the width and length desired, put in the stuffing. Take 1 tsp of the stuffing and put about the centre of the rolled paste at about 1″ | 2.5cm from the end and go on putting by teaspoons all along, leaving a space between of 2″ | 5cm. When this has been done, brush with cold water the borders of the pastry and the space between the stuffing. Carefully fold the pastry over the stuffing, making the 2 lengthwise sides meet. Press down firmly and also press the space between each stuffing. When this is securely done, take a pastry roller, dip in flour if necessary and roll out each chilicote the shape of about half moon. Tuck them neatly up and put on a lightly floured dish.  

 The remnant of this dough can be joined and kneaded down with the remaining dough. Finish up the remaining dough and stuffing in the way mentioned.  

When this is done, do the frying. Have a large frying pan half-filled with lard and when the lard is quite hot, put in the chilicotes, a dozen or so at a time. Fry to light brown then lay on a sheet of paper in a warm place to absorb the remaining lard.

NB: Too many egg whites in the pastry will turn it rubbery and hard. Well kneaded pastry makes “good eating”.

2(?) cups rice flour
2 cups boiling water
lard
½ tsp salt

Bring to the boil water, lard and salt, then add rice flour and stir until well blended. Close the lid tightly and reduce to a very low heat, cook for 10 minutes then keep covered for ¼ hour.

Banana leaves for wrapping

Banana tree leaves are very long and the leaves are very wide. Each side of the leaf is large enough to wrap two or three packets of chilicote.

Cut off the stem in the centre and wash the leaves clean one by one. Have a pan half filled with boiling water, put in the leaves and boil briefly. Remove, strain and thoroughly dry with a clean cloth.

680g Chinese white radish (rabono in Portuguese, or lo pak in Cantonese)
220g pork
5 spring onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
56g diced raw Chinese ham (optional)

Pork must be minced in a mincing machine.

Cut the Chinese radish lengthwise in thin 3″ (8cm) strips.

Crush the garlic without taking off the skin. Put about 3 teaspoons of lard in a rather large pan and when the lard is very hot, put in the garlic and fry till light brown. In turn, add and fry the spring onions for two minutes then the minced pork for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and lastly the strips of Chinese radish. Mix this well into the pork and let it cook, stirring occasionally until all the water of the white radish has been dried up, and the mixture is just moist.

Lastly, add ham and cook for two minutes. Remove from the fire, and let it get cold.

Turn the flour paste onto a board and knean till smooth. Take out a lump of flour the size of a walnut and roll it round and smooth.

Put the flour ball on a lightly oiled small part of the board. With a very wide knife (preferably a parang – cleaver) press down the ball of flour gradually (being careful that it does not stick on the board) until it is about 1/8″ (3mm) thick and about 4″ (10cm) in diameter. Make it in a nice round shape, and be careful not to crack it. Put a teaspoon or so of the Chinese radish stuffing in the centre, fold in two and wrap in banana leaf as follows.

Put the chilicote at about three inches before the end of the leaf, cover the end over, give a turn and put on another chilicote and wrap another two turns. Each packet should have two chilicotes. Have the chilicotes well covered with the leaf, as otherwise it will break. Put them in layers in a sieve or colander, have a large pan with ¼ boiling water and a hollow tin in the centre to hold up the sieve 1″ from the water and steam for 1-2 hours till done.