Homemade Lotus Paste

I had been planning to make some lotus paste for my mooncake baking project this year but I kept dragging my feet. I finally made it last week. I feel that those store-bought paste is very oily. It is so oily to the point that there were oil dripping out. 

I referred to the recipe from here but unfortunately, I wrongly read the amount of vegetable oil as 200g instead of 200ml. When I was weighing the oil, I felt weird as it looks too much to me. In the end, I didn't pour in all the oil. However, I did not weigh the amount of oil I poured in or the leftover oil as I was rushing for time. But I guessed from my judgement, it should be roughly around the region of 200ml. The amount of sugar that I used is also slighly different. I used 180g as I preferred reduced sugar version and the sweetness is just right for us. The lotus seeds that I used were skinned lotus seeds and I rinsed and soaked them for nearly 6 hours before using. As for the method, you may refer to the method from the link above if you like. My slightly modified version is as follows:-

Lotus Paste

Ingredients:

400g skinned lotus seeds

180g sugar

200ml vegetable oil

2 screwpine leaves, knotted

Water as needed

Method:

1. Rinse and soak lotus seeds. Remove its green germ as they taste bitter.

2. Boil lotus seeds till soft in a pot of water slightly more than enough to cover the lotus seeds. If water dries up before the lotus seeds become soft, add more water as needed. 

3. Transfer it to food processor and process into a fine paste. Use the water that is used to boil the lotus seeds for processing, if needed.

4. Take 3 tablespoon of sugar from the 180g sugar and cook into caramel in a wok. Add in lotus puree, the remaining sugar and the knotted screwpine leaves. Cook till the sugar melted. If you use fine sugar, this will just take a short while. Continue stirring to prevent burning or sticking.

5. Add in the oil in few batches. Allows the oil to blend in the paste before adding the next batch.

6. Continue to cook and stir till it thicken.

7. Once done, do not expose to water else the cooked lotus paste will be easily spoilt. 

8. Let cool completely before storing in airtight container in the fridge if not use immediately. It can be stored for up to 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge. You may store it in the freezer if you want to keep it longer.