Teochew Spiral Yam Mooncake

All my life I have only ever eaten the traditional mooncake - those with lotus paste or with mixed nuts inside. So it was with wonder that I saw forum members post photos of teochew spiral yam mooncake.

It appears to have been made popular by the chef from Crown Prince Hotel in Singapore, these Teochew yam mooncakes come in a flaky spiral crusty skin. Yam is always used as the filling instead of the more common lotus paste. That's probably because Teochews like yam desserts, especially the famous "or-nee" (yam paste with gingko nuts).


So armed with a recipe I attempted this spiral. Being the first attempt, it would appear that I made several mistakes. First I misread the recipe for the paste. I am suppose to fry it until dry. It did come to my mind when I was wrapping it that it was a bit wet and gooey. Then doing further research on the internet, I was suppose to fry the spiral 3 times in very hot oil. I only did it once on medium heat - no wonder the mooncake did not 'bloom' like a snail's shell !

Oh well, never mind. Taste wise, the pastry was exceptionally crispy and flaky. I will not post the recipe until I am happy with the result.


The mooncake in front has yam while the other one at the back has a savoury bean filling for Mr Redneck as he does not like sweet fillings.

ETA (Sep 2008) : Recipe posted here