Lotus Seed Paste Recipe (Blending, On Stove)
Lotus Seed Paste is a traditional filling for desserts in Chinese Culinary, such as mooncake and snow skin mooncake, steamed bun, dim sum, and many other pastries. Made from cooked lotus seeds, it used to be considered as a luxurious ingredient in China. By adding a bit sugar/caramelized sugar and vegetable oil to cooked lotus seeds, lotus seed paste has an elegant sweetness, a tender texture, and a very pleasant aroma of lotus. Let’s learn how to make it at home for various dishes with two methods below, on stove cooking and blending.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
The recipe for lotus seed paste includes only 3 ingredients: cooked lotus seeds, vegetable oil and sugar or caramelized sugar.
To cook lotus seeds, please refer another post, “how to cook dried lotus seeds” to select the most appropriate methods for you between boiling in regular pot, boiling in pressure cooker/instant pot, or steaming. For lotus seeds paste you’ll need to overcook the lotus seeds a bit to facilitate blending or simmering on stove, so these three methods don’t have any difference in driving the result, except timing. Cooking in pressure cooker is quickest, then boiling in regular pot, and finally steaming.
In almost all types of pastes, we usually add a bit oil (about 1-2 tsp) to make the paste smoother and stickier. You can use regular cooking oil (sunflower seeds, canola, or peanut oil) or coconut oil. Coconut oil can add a pleasant aroma of coconut into the paste as well.
Finally, you’ll need sugar to add the sweetness to the paste. You can use granulated sugar, it’s always ready in every kitchen. Otherwise, you can also replace with brown sugar/caramelized sugar to bring brown color to the paste, similar to traditional version.
Comparison Between Two Making Methods
I tried both methods on the same lotus seed paste recipe and concluded some advantages and disadvantages of each. Therefore, I made a comparison between these two methods for you to select the best one in you opinion.
- Cooking the paste on stove: Cooking on stove always deliver the best texture for every type of paste. It’s because we make the paste slowly on low heat and easily adjust the amount of water in the paste, as well as detect any lump left to deal with. However, cooking slowly takes way more time than blending. You will have to spend at least 20 minutes and up to 45 minutes to make lotus seed paste on stove, depend on the amount of paste.
- Blending cooked lotus seeds: It’s very fast. Less than 5 minutes, you’ll have your lotus seed paste to use in mooncake or bun. However, when I blended lotus seeds to make paste, the texture was not so smooth. There were many pieces of lotus seeds left in the paste, although I saved lots of time.
Therefore, depend on your time span and your requirement of the result, you can either cook on stove or blend the seeds.
Instruction
Method 1: Cook the paste on stove
- Step 1. Mix ingredients. Add cooked lotus seeds to a pan. Per 100g of cooked lotus seeds, I often mix with 2 tbsp of sugar (I always reduce the amount of sugar intake, so you can add more), and 1 tsp of oil. Finally, add a bit of water but not too much, 2-3 tbsp for 100g of seeds.
- Step 2. Mash the seeds on the pan. Use a spatula to mash lotus seeds with sugar, oil and water. Mash them as much as possible.
- Step 3. Cook on low heat. Turn on low heat and stir the mixture evenly for the water to evaporate slowly. Stir in 20-30 minutes until you can combine the mixture into one solid but still soft paste. It might take up to 45 minutes in case you make a large batch of lotus seed paste.
So, your paste is done. You should cover it with plastic wrap when not in use. To use it as a filling, divide the paste into smaller portions and roll into balls.
Method 2. Blending
To blend the paste, you need a blender with a sharp blade. Then, follow these steps:
- Step 1. Mix ingredients. Add cooked lotus seeds, sugar, and vegetable oil in the blending cup. Per 100g of cooked lotus seeds, I often mix with 2 tbsp of sugar (I always reduce the amount of sugar intake, so you can add more), and 1 tsp of oil. If you use boiled lotus seeds, don’t need to add more water; if you use steamed seeds, add 1 tbsp of water.
- Step 2. Shake the ingredients. Shake the blending cup for a while for the ingredients to be mixed well, so it’s easier to blend.
- Step 3. Blend in 3-5 minutes. Turn on the blender and let it do its job. After 1-2 minutes, stop the blender, open the lid, and stir the paste a bit for the second round of blending. Then, turn on the blender again in 2-3 minutes or until you’re satisfied with the outcome.
Remove the paste from blender and roll into balls to become the filling in your desserts. Store it in fridge in no more than 4 days, or freeze it for longer period around 2-3 months.
Lotus Seed Paste Recipe (on stove/ blending)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 600 g cooked lotus seeds ~21 oz
- 180 g granulated sugar/brown sugar ~1 cup
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
Method 1: Cook the paste on stove
- Step 1. Mix ingredients. Add cooked lotus seeds to a pan. Per 100g of cooked lotus seeds, I often mix with 2 tbsp of sugar (I always reduce the amount of sugar intake, so you can add more), and 1 tsp of oil. Finally, add a bit of water but not too much, 2-3 tbsp for 100g of seeds.
- Step 2. Mash the seeds on the pan. Use a spatula to mash lotus seeds with sugar, oil and water. Mash them as much as possible.
- Step 3. Cook on low heat. Turn on low heat and stir the mixture evenly for the water to evaporate slowly. Stir in 20-30 minutes until you can combine the mixture into one solid but still soft paste. It might take up to 45 minutes in case you make a large batch of lotus seed paste.
- The paste is done when it can form easily like the image below.
- You should cover it with plastic wrap when not in use. To use it as a filling, divide the paste into smaller portions and roll into balls.
Method 2. Blending using Blender/Food processor
- Step 1. Mix ingredients. Add cooked lotus seeds, sugar, and vegetable oil in the blending cup. Per 100g of cooked lotus seeds, I often mix with 2 tbsp of sugar (I always reduce the amount of sugar intake, so you can add more), and 1 tsp of oil. If you use boiled lotus seeds, don’t need to add more water; if you use steamed seeds, add 1 tbsp of water.
- Step 2. Shake the ingredients. Shake the blending cup for a while for the ingredients to be mixed well, so it’s easier to blend.
- Step 3. Blend in 3-5 minutes. Turn on the blender and let it do its job. After 1-2 minutes, stop the blender, open the lid, and stir the paste a bit for the second round of blending. Then, turn on the blender again in 2-3 minutes or until you’re satisfied with the outcome.
- Remove the paste from blender and roll into balls to become the filling in your desserts. Store it in fridge in not more than 2 days, or freeze it for longer period around 1-2 months.
Nutrition
Do you like this recipe? Brighten my day by rating the recipe and clicking the “save” button to have this recipe right on your Pinterest board. Also, let’s be friends on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok!