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Bánh gối (pillow pastries)
Fried pork pastries
Bánh gối: crisp half-moon fried pastries filled with pork, glass noodles, wood ear and quail egg
VietnameseAlong Lý Quốc Sư street in Hanoi's Old Quarter, bánh gối come out of the fryer puffed and blistered, piled on trays beside spring rolls, and are eaten with a sweet-sour dip full of pickled green papaya and carrot. Each 'pillow' is a thin wheat pastry folded around minced pork, mung bean vermicelli, wood ear mushroom and half a quail egg. They are an afternoon snack in the cold months, eaten while the pastry is still shatteringly crisp. Chef's tip: seal the edges with a little water and press out the air; trapped air makes the pastries burst open in the oil.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Pastry
- 9 oz plain flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp neutral oilfor the dough
- ½ cup warm water
Filling
- 9 oz minced pork
- ⅞ oz mung bean vermicellisoaked 10 minutes, cut into 2 cm lengths
- ⅛ oz dried wood ear mushroomssoaked and finely chopped
- 2 shallotsminced
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 8 quail eggsboiled 4 minutes, peeled and halved
- 1 litre neutral oilfor deep frying
Dipping sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 ⅛ oz green papaya and carrotthinly sliced
- 1 red chillisliced
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Mix 9 oz plain flour and ½ tsp salt, add 2 tbsp neutral oil and ½ cup warm water and knead for 5 minutes into a smooth, soft dough. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
25 minStep 2: Meanwhile fry 2 shallots in a dry-ish pan with a splash of oil over a medium heat until soft, then add 9 oz minced pork and break it up. Cook until no pink remains and the mince reaches 160°F, about 5 minutes.
6 minStep 3: Stir in ⅞ oz mung bean vermicelli, ⅛ oz dried wood ear mushrooms, 1 tbsp fish sauce and ½ tsp ground black pepper and cook 1 minute until the noodles turn clear and absorb the juices. Cool the filling.
2 minStep 4: Stir 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp rice vinegar and 2 tbsp sugar with 6 tablespoons of warm water until dissolved, then add 2 ⅛ oz green papaya and carrot and 1 red chilli.
3 minStep 5: Roll the dough out very thinly, about 1 mm, and cut 10 cm rounds. Put a spoonful of filling and half of a 8 quail eggs on one side of each round.
15 minStep 6: Wet the edge, fold into a half-moon, press out the air and seal, then crimp the edge with a fork or pleat it.
10 minStep 7: Heat 1 litre neutral oil to 350°F and fry 4–5 pastries at a time, turning, for 4–5 minutes, until puffed, blistered and deep golden. Drain on a rack.
15 minStep 8: Serve hot, cut in half, with the pickle-laced dipping sauce spooned over each bite.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 21 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bánh gối (pillow pastries) take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of dried wood ear mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
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