Destination
Hue
The story
Bánh patê sô is Vietnam's take on the French pâté chaud (hot pâté in pastry) and one of the country's most-loved colonial-era bakery snacks. Flaky puff pastry is cut into small squares, topped with a mound of spiced pork mixture (mince pork, wood ear mushroom, shallot, fish sauce, black pepper), covered with a second square of pastry, sealed at the edges, brushed with egg wash and baked until deep golden and puffed. Sold at every Vietnamese bakery from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, especially popular for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack with strong Vietnamese coffee. The Vietnamese pronounce it "bánh pah-tay sho."
Method
Warm oil in a wide pan. Cook shallots and garlic 2 minutes. Add pork mince and break up. Cook 8 minutes until browned. Add chopped wood ear, fish sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, pepper, salt and five-spice. Cook 3 more minutes. Whisk cornstarch with 2 tbsp cold water; stir in and cook 60 seconds until the mixture is glossy and holds together.
Spread the filling on a plate to cool. Hot filling melts the butter in the pastry and gives you a soggy bake.
Roll out each sheet of puff pastry. Cut into 8cm squares. You should have 24 squares (12 bottoms, 12 tops).
Place a heaped tbsp of cooled filling in the middle of each bottom square. Brush the exposed border with water. Place a top square over. Press the edges to seal. Crimp with a fork.
Whisk egg yolk with milk. Brush over the top of each pastry. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if using.
Score a small X or 2 parallel lines on top of each with a sharp knife for steam release.
Preheat oven to 200C. Bake on a lined tray for 20 to 25 minutes until deep golden and puffed.
Rest 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with chili sauce and coffee. Best within 4 hours of baking; reheat in a 180C oven for 8 minutes to re-crisp.
Tips
- Cool the filling. Non-negotiable. Hot filling ruins the pastry.
- All-butter puff pastry. Margarine puff pastry gives a limp finished bake.
- Seal well. Any gap and the filling leaks during baking.
- Egg wash gives the classical bakery shine. Do not skip.
- Reheat to crisp. Bánh patê sô soften as they sit; a quick oven reheat restores them.
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