Pate Chaud (Bánh Pateso) & Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my Vietspices blog! I am so excited to launch my first cooking blog. Cooking has always been my passion since I was a little girl. I can never forget those days in my hometown Pleiku, Vietnam when my neighbor friends and I played with food on the side walk right in front of our houses. We used to steal food from our parents and together cooked in our pretend ceramic cookware and ate straight from the pot. I love cooking so much that I had to beg my family's maid to let me help her to cook and wash dishes. Sometimes, she was nice enough to grant my wish, but other times she would report me to my mom and I ended up getting yelled. Reminiscing of my childhood days bring back such wonderful nostalgic fun and evoke the spices that have been indelibly etched into my senses leading to the creation of VietSpices.

So to celebrate my blog, I would like to share one of my favorite appetizers Pate Chaud (Pateso). This is the one I remember fondly from childhood. Everyday around noon, a lady would show up in my neigborhood carrying a bamboo basket full of fresh and warm pastries (Pate Chauds, Steamed Rice Cake (bánh bò), and other French pastries). It smelled so good every time she opened up the basket cover and I followed my nose to the delicious aroma of Pate Chauds.

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RECIPE: Pate Chaud

Pate Chaud Lollipops

Ingredients

Filling

0.7 lb Ground Pork

3/4-1 small Onion, chopped

1/3 tube of Pork Pate (Braunschweiger), Braunschweiger Farmer John brand comes in 8oz tube

2 1/2 teaspoons Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Salt

3/4-1 teaspoon Ground Pepper

1 tablespoon Cooking Wine, optional

Pate Chaud Shell

2 Egg Yolks

2 boxes of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets or any brand

Making Filling

Combine filling ingredients, and mix thoroughly

Assembling

Thaw pastry sheets for about 10 minutes but not too long. The pastry will be too soft and it's hard to work with.

Use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles.

Scoop some filling onto a pastry. Use a tablespoon to help portion.

Place another square or circle pastry on top and use a fork, the end of a chopstick or the end of a lollipop stick to pinch the two pastries together. Use the left over pastry from the circle to wrap around the circle.