Sardine Puff 烤沙丁鱼角

I made these sardine puffs one month ago for afternoon tea. I adapted the shortcrust pastry recipe from Today newspaper. When I looked at the date I couldn't believe that the newspaper cutout was dated 2 years ago. I have eyeing for this for the longest time and finally I made it.

For the fillings, I mixed the sardines with onion and finely cut chili padi (bird's eyes chili).

The pastry is flaky and buttery and the filling is just the way my family likes their sardines to be, hot and spicy.

I think this baked version still can't beat the fried version. It is not bad though, just let the oven does the job, no deep-frying and major cleaning.

Pastry recipe adapted from Today newspaper dated 11th December 2008. The amount shown below is half the recipe.

Ingredients:

Fillings
1 small can sardine in tomato sauce (I used Ayam brand)
1 small size onion (cut into strips)
4 chili padi (bird's eye chili) (finely cut ) (I think still not spicy enough!)
Pinch of sugar and light soya sauce to taste

Pastry
250g plain flour
¼ tsp salt
125g butter, at room temperature (I replaced with margarine)
1 ½ tbsp ice water
½ egg yolk
For the egg wash: ½ egg yolk + ½ tsp water
**I think the crust is slightly salty. I will add a pinch of sugar if I were to make again.

Method:
1) Place the flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and mix well. Using fingertips, rub the butter into the flour.
2) Add water and egg yolk and mix to form the dough.
3) Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 45 minutes before use (so that it is easier to roll out and handle).
4) Now prepare the fillings. Place the sardines in a bowl, remove bones and break them up with a fork then add the rest of the ingredients (including tomato sauce in the can, reduce the amount if you prefer the fillings dryer), mix well.
5) To assemble, preheat oven to 200C. Roll out the dough to about 0.5mm thick (see tips below).
6) Use a round pastry cutter (about 8cm diameter) to cut out the pastry circles (I use a cup as I do not have round pastry cutter). Place on a baking sheet.
7) Place a spoon of sardines on the centre of each round and fold the pastry into a half moon (I made 2 half moon shape and the rest is round shape, just cover the top with another piece of cut-out pastry).
8) Using the tines of a fork, press down on the edges of the puffs to seal them.
9) Apply egg wash - lightly brush it onto the tops of the pastry.
10) Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.

Tips:
Rolling out your pastry between sheets of greaseproof paper or cling film (tape it to your work surface to keep it steady) ensures your pastry won't stick to your rolling pin and work surface. Plus, it makes for easy cleaning up, too.

Lastly, the picture below is for a blog friend.

Anncoo, you get what I mean? :)