I hope that you guys enjoyed the last post, Tom n Toms style honey bread, I’m really craving some at the moment……… too bad I’m on a plane and not actually going to a place that has Tom n Toms.
Anyways, today I’m going to be introducing you to another Korean snack food, and that is the coco hodo’s. These are little walnut pastries that are shaped like a walnut. These are particularly popular during winter when you can get them from street vendors. They are a particularly good in between meal snack to take on the go. They are quite inexpensive to buy, but it is always more fun to make your own.
To me I’d call them Korean profiteroles, although not really. It's made from a walnut pastry with a red bean filling and are AMAZING. The name is a bit deceiving when it is said in English, you sort of expect it to be made with chocolate coco = cocoa, but that might be just me.
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And that was all I got up to on the plane. I never actually managed to finish the post and here I am more than a month after returning finishing off the post. I'm so sorry for not posting much over the last 2 months, but I couldn't even access blogspot when I was on holidays and uni just got so overwhelming when I returned. I mean I've got exams in like 1 1/2 weeks and I and epically screwed.
Anyways, I hope that this recipe is going to satisfy your craving for new recipes and I'll try my best to put out recipes on a more regular basis. It should be quite easy once exams are over this semester. And I can't wait to share photos of the food that I ate whilst I was on holiday.
Anyways, back to today's recipe. Coco hodo. I'm pretty sure that I've covered all the introductory bases so let's move on to the recipe. I'm going to use a profiterole kinda pastry, so a choux pastry since I have no idea how to make the actual pastry, but I'll be adjusting it so it is similar in taste.
Ingredients
125 ml water
125 ml milk
100 grams butter
pinch of salt
100 grams flour
50g walnut flour (or almond meal) -- gives a nutty taste
4 eggs
1 cup red bean paste (store bought or home made)
2 tbs double cream
50g walnuts
Method
1. Heat the oven to 220ᴼC.
2. To make the pastry, melt the butter with water and milk in a large pan.
3. Bring to boiling point and tip in salt and flour. Using a wooden spoon beat hard for up to 30 seconds, till the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the pan.
4. Cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
5. While the dough is cooling, line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
6. When the dough has cooled beat the eggs, one at the time till the dough is smooth and glossy. Pour the dough into a pastry bag and pipe out profiteroles (about the size of a walnut) leaving enough space for them to rise, otherwise spoon with teaspoons. Tip your fingers in cold water and smooth the surface of profiteroles, as any spikes are likely to burn.
7. Bake the profiteroles in 220ᴼC for 10 minutes, then reduce to 190ᴼC and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Using a knife poke a hole in each profiterole to let out the steam (and to fill later) and leave them to cool on a rack.
9. While the pastry is cooling prepare the red bean paste. You can adjust the sweetness of the paste to your liking and to make it extra smooth and creaming add 2 tbs of double cream.
10. Also cut the walnuts coarsely and mix it through the red bean mixture.
11. Fill a piping bag with the paste and get ready to pipe the pastry when it is sufficiently cool.
12. Fill the pastry with the hole that is at the base of the pastry.
And you are DONEEEEEEE.
This doesn't turn out to be a chewy as the original, but the pastry remains light and fluffy. It's not the easiest thing to make, but it is nice because it means you can still enjoy coco hodo even if you aren't near a store.
So I hope that you liked this recipe, and I'll try my best to post more often. Maybe in about 2 weeks time I'll have another post out. Until ten remember to stay safe, happy and healthy!!!
