Ube Hopia – a variation of a Filipino flaky pastry filled with ube/purple yam jam. Hopia is a Filipino snack that is basically a thin flaky pastry with filling. They are generally round in shape with an inch or so in width. The usual filling you’ll find with hopia is a mung bean paste known as monggo. These days, hopia also has other options for filling such as red bean paste. So long as you know the main base of the pastry, you get different fillings to try. As a tip, you will want to keep to the same consistency as the usual fillings. If you want to try out this pastry filled with purple yam, this recipe is one way to do it.
Ube Hopia
Ingredients
Dough#1:
- 2 cups all purpose flour Put aside extra flour for kneading / rolling / shaping
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Dough#2:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup lard orvegetable shortening
Filling:
- Ube Halaya / Ube jam
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Combine the ingredients for dough one and mix them with a fork or other mixing utensil until you see the ingredients break down. If the mixture is too dry, add more water before kneading it together to form a dough
- Using a separate bowl, mix up the ingredients for the second dough with your hands until the dough is formed.
- Sprinkle some flour onto the counter and flatten both doughs with a rolling pin. Place the second dough on top of the first. If you are having issues
- Roll the the dough mixture into a log and wrap it in wax paper or cellophane and allow it to rest
- Once its set, cut it into twenty four pieces and flatten each piece into a disk.
- Scoop half a tablespoon of ube jam/halaya onto each disk
- Pinch the ends in a circular patter or in a way that it covers the top
- Using a cookie cutter, you can flatten out the folded top to form the pancake like shape
- Brush each piece with egg wash
- Bake at 400 F for about 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden.
History, Tips, and Other Notes on Ube Hopia
It is said that ube hopia goes back to the1980s in a Chinese Filipino deli chain known as Gerry Chua of Eng Bee Tin. The actual hopia snack, on the other hand, is said to originate in the early 1900s in urban centers of the Philippines. It was introduced by Fujianese immigrants and the word “hopia” translates to “good pastry” in the Hookian dialect. As stated, hopia is traditionally filled with mung bean paste, a.k.a. mungo paste.
Aside from mungo or ube/purple yam, you can also look into other flavors such as durian. You can also experiment by mixing the ube and mung beans together for a unique flavor. If that’s too much, you can try using a mixture of ube and condensed milk as a simpler flavor experiment.
When it comes to the baking process of this snack, you can also use a frying pan if an oven is not optional. All you have to do is cook each side for ten minutes or until you see a slightly purplish-brown color. Once you have the snack ready, you can store the pastry for up to 1-2 weeks under room temperature. Or you can keep it stored in your freezer for as long as six months for reheating. Think of this snack as a simpler form of mooncake which you can enjoy either right out of the oven or cool.
Other Options for the Recipe
Just as there are many ways to enjoy the snack, there are different options that come with their ingredients. For example, if you want to have an extra flaky outer shell, consider vegetable shortening. Vegetable shortening is one of the different ingredients that can help achieve an extra flaky pastry. If you happen to be out of all-purpose flour, add bread flour to the shortening to achieve the right consistency. Just make sure not to forget to apply egg wash for the golden finish. It can also help to make use of parchment paper to prevent stickiness.
Aside from alternatives for ingredients and additions like parchment paper, there are plenty of other tips on working on the pastry. After letting the dough rest and rolling it out with a rolling pin, it can help to use a round cookie cutter. Having rounded doughs can help form more uniform results to place on the baking sheet. If you end up with leftover dough, you can bundle it up, flatten it with a rolling pin, and mold any leftover jam into the dough. Overall, there are plenty of options to experiment with this snack.
Test out even more ube recipes with our “Ube Biko Recipe” and “Ube Turon Recipe.” If you want to try out other Filipino desserts, check out our “Ginataang Mais Recipe” and “Ginataang Munggo Recipe.” For other pastry dishes, check out “Otap.”