Paste made with lotus seeds is rich, smooth and silky. It is considered luxurious filling for Chinese mooncake due to the high price of dried lotus seeds.
Soak overnight in the refrigerator, presoaking help lotus seeds to cook evenly and reduce cooking time.
Split the seed in half and remove the bitter-tasting germ (green sprout).
Drain and add in 800 ml water, bring to the boil, reduce to low heat and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes. Keep the pot partially open to prevent boiling over.
Puree until smooth using a blender. If your lotus seeds puree seems too dry add a tablespoon or two of water.
Sieve the lotus seeds puree for smoother paste texture.
Add 110 g sugar, ¼ tsp salt, 75 g cooking oil and slaked glutinous rice flour (15 g glutinous rice flour + 3 Tbsps. of water).
Cook over medium-low heat until smooth paste formed, stir constantly. It takes about 40 minutes, cooking time may vary slightly depend on your cooking temperature.
Cook until puree thickens, smooth and silky paste formed. Paste will harden slightly when fully cooled. (Update for storage: Put paste in container and freeze it. Return frozen paste to room temperature before using. )
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Notes
This recipe yields 480 g paste divided into 10 servings. Each serving is 48 g of paste.The nutritional value for reference is for 1 serving.