Khanom Pia Salted Egg Lava (Flaky Chinese Pastry With Molten Salted Egg Filling)

Classic khanom pia (Chinese flaky pastry) fillings such as mung bean, taro and purple sweet potato are old news. Salted egg is the trend of the moment, and salted egg lava pia is especially popular everywhere.

Salted Egg Lava Filling

• 18 cooked salted egg yolks (microwave for 1 minute or steam)
• 250 g whipping cream
• 100 g sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 50 g custard powder
• 70 g melted salted butter

Outer Dough

• 120 g all-purpose flour (Kite brand)
• 80 g cake flour
• 35 g sugar
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 25 g rice bran butter
• 25 g vegetable oil
• 75 g water

Inner Dough

• 70 g all-purpose flour (Kite brand)
• 30 g cake flour
• 20 g vegetable oil
• 20 g rice bran butter

Egg Yolk Glaze

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp yellow food colouring
• 1/2 tsp water
• 3–4 drops vegetable oil
• Toasted white sesame seeds

How to Make the Salted Egg Lava Filling

1. Steam or microwave the salted egg yolks until cooked, then mash them roughly.
2. Put all the filling ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour the mixture into a lidded container and freeze overnight.
4. The next day, use an ice cream scoop to shape the filling into balls of 23–25 g, about 28–29 balls. Freeze the shaped balls for another 30 minutes, then they are ready to wrap.

How to Make the Egg Yolk Glaze

Mix the egg yolk with the yellow food colouring, add the water and vegetable oil, and stir well.

How to Make the Pastry

1. For the outer dough, sift both flours together with the salt, and prepare a bowl for kneading.
2. Mix the sugar and water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Put all the ingredients into the bowl and knead for about 25–30 minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and no longer sticky. Cover with plastic to keep the air out and rest for 30 minutes.
3. For the inner dough, sift both flours together, add the rice bran butter and vegetable oil, and knead until it forms a ball. Cover with plastic and rest for 30 minutes.
4. The larger ball is the outer dough; the smaller ball is the inner dough.
5. After 30 minutes, divide the outer and inner doughs into 10 pieces each: 13–14 g per inner dough piece and 35–36 g per outer dough piece.
6. Wrap each inner dough piece in an outer dough piece, place in a tightly lidded container and rest overnight at room temperature (no need to refrigerate).
7. Roll the rested dough into a long oval, then roll it up into a log. Place in a tightly lidded container and rest for 20–30 minutes.
8. After 30 minutes, roll it out lengthwise again and roll up tightly. Place in a lidded container and rest for 20–30 minutes.
9. Cut the dough into 2 pieces, roll each into a circle and add a ball of lava filling. (Roll out all the dough before wrapping, because the filling melts quickly.)
10. Arrange on a tray and bake with top and bottom heat at 190°C for about 5–6 minutes.
11. Take them out and brush the tops with the egg yolk glaze.
12. Bake for a second round of about 4–5 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool.

So that's how to make salted egg lava pia. The steps may look a bit involved, but the results are absolutely mouth-watering.