I started THIS topic because I've been making more and more pastries since we only have one Chinese bakery in St Louis and I'm tired of running up to Chicago just for my fix. I've been building my cookbook collection, but mostly I'm still using YouTube channels - especially Daddy's Cooking Career which is heavy on pastry. I thought I'd share what I'm making to see who else might be baking or making pastries. There seems to be a lot of nuance as to what is from mainland China, Taiwan, and surrounding countries, so I'll do my best to be accurate in my attributions.
Anyway, today I made this peanut pastry.
Barely sweet, fried and crushed peanuts with peanut/sesame paste, wrapped in a traditional water and oil dough. Not sure what this one is called, if anything specific at all, but very nice with my morning tea. ETA: a friend just told me this is 花生酥餅 and likely inspired by a Shanghia-ese red bean pancake 豆沙窩餅.
FWIW, here is St Louis we have:
Wei Hong (Cantonese bakery and restaurant)
Foundry Bakery (Taiwanese bakery)
And up in Chicago there are many but I typically go to:
Chiu Quon (Oldest Chinese bakery in the city)
Sweet Bean Bakery and Coffee Shop (Taiwanese...my absolute favorite! Worth the 5 hour drive each way)
