Vegetable Pastel
This Indonesian-style Vegetable Pastel is enclosed in a pastry exterior, filled with savory vegetarian filling, and then fried until crisp and golden brown. They are perfect for breakfast, appetizers, or as a snack.
Pastel is an Indonesian street food delicacy. It is a popular fried snack you can easily find in Indonesian traditional markets.
These fried pastries are filled with various savory fillings. Vegetable Pastel is the most common filling with vermicelli, carrots, potatoes, and sometimes hard-boiled eggs inside
The filling is enclosed in flaky buttery pastry dough. Then, it is deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. Somehow, they may resemble empanada in some ways, but it is crisper and crunchier.
Make several batches in a go and keep them in the freezer so you can have them whenever you want. Serve with green bird’s eye chilis if you like them spicy or with peanut sauce.
What is Pastel?
Pastel consists of a half-circle thin-crust pastry exterior filled with assorted fillings and fried in vegetable oil. It is a type of kue made of thin pastry crust, with a filling of meat, vegetables, rice vermicelli, and sometimes boiled eggs, then deep-fried in vegetable oil.
It is consumed as a snack and commonly sold in Indonesian traditional markets. This dish is very popular during iftar for Ramadan.
Although the origins of this snack are uncertain, the snack is believed to have originated due to the various influences of Portuguese empanada and Indian samosa during the colonization era.
Ingredients You Need
Pastry Exterior
- All-purpose flour – Or you can also use cake flour for crisper pastry.
- Salt – To taste.
- Margarine – You can also use butter to substitute margarine, but it will not be as flaky as using margarine.
- Warm water – We use warm water to speed the mixing time because the flour absorbs more hot water than cold water.
Filling
- Vegetable oil – For stir-frying.
- Garlic – For aromatic flavor and aroma.
- Shallots – Shallots used in Southeast Asian cuisine tend to be small with a red exterior and white interior. Unlike western shallots which tend to be larger, Indonesian shallots are small and sweeter in flavor. The individual cloves resemble garlic cloves with pointed tapered ends. You can substitute shallots with 1 onion if you don’t have them.
- Carrots – Make sure you dice them small or they will take a longer time to cook.
- Potatoes – Dice them with the same size as the carrots.
- Dried vermicelli noodles – Soak in hot water for 2-3 minutes to soften. Drain the water before using.
- Scallions – You can also use green onion if you don’t have scallions.
- Leaf celery – Leaf celery or Chinese celery is a variety of celery cultivated in East Asian countries. The stems are thinner than those of Western celery. Also, unlike Western celery, the leaves are used as well as the stalks. If you don’t have leaf celery or don’t like its flavor, you can completely omit it.
- Hard-boiled eggs – Eggs are completely optional.
- Seasonings – Salt, sugar, chicken bouillon powder, and white ground pepper for taste.
For the filling, you can actually use whatever you want and whatever is left in your fridge. You can also substitute some carrots or potatoes with meat, such as chicken and beef.
How to Make Vegan Vegetable Pastel
This Vegetable Pastel recipe is vegetarian, but you can easily turn it into a vegan dish. Just omit the hard-boiled eggs in the filling and substitute the chicken bouillon powder with mushroom bouillon powder or completely omit it.
How to Make
- Make the filling first. Stir-fry minced garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add diced carrots and potatoes along with a little bit of water. Stir-fry until they are cooked. Season with salt, sugar, chicken bouillon powder, and ground white pepper. Add finely chopped scallions and leaf celery to finish. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool completely before using it.
- Make the dough for the skin. Mix all-purpose flour, salt, and melted margarine. Add water gradually and mix until dough forms. Knead with your hand until the dough is smooth. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 25 even pieces or about 30 gr each. Roll thinly with a rolling pin until the dough is about 5-inch/12 cm in diameter.
- Fill with 1 tbsp of filling and add a slice of hard-boiled egg.
- Fold and press the edges. Pleat the edges with your thumb.
- Deep-fry on low-medium heat until golden brown.
How to Store
Make pastels ahead and store them in the fridge for later use so that you can enjoy them whenever you want. Here is how to store them properly:
- Raw – Wrap and shape the pastels per instructions in the recipe card. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or plastic, not touching each other. After they are frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer-friendly ziplock bag or airtight container.
- Half-Cooked – Deep-fry the raw pastels in oil just until half-cooked. The skin should still be pale white. Remove from the oil and cool completely before transferring them into a freezer-friendly airtight container.
You can store pastels in the freezer for up to 3 months. Before serving, do not thaw and fry them frozen. Fry on low-medium heat. Do not use high heat or else when the skin is already golden brown, the inside is still cold.
How to Serve
These Vegetable Pastes are great eaten hot or at room temperature. Eat pastels with a small bite of fresh green bird’s eye chili if you like them super spicy. Or enjoy these delicious snacks with peanut sauce on the side.
Vegetable Pastel
Ingredients
Skin
- 4 cups (500 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 tbsp (100 gr) margarine, melted
- 13 tbsp (200 ml) warm water
- Oil, for frying
Filling
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 shallots, finely chopped
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, or more
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 5 oz (140 gr) dried vermicelli noodles
- 2 ribs leaf celery, finely chopped, optional
- 2 scallions, finely chopped
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into 6-8 pieces each
Dipping Sauce
- 2 1/2 cups Peanut Sauce I
Instructions
Filling
- Soak dried vermicelli – In a large bowl, soak dried vermicelli noodles in hot water for about 3 minutes to soften them. Drain the water. Set aside.
- Cook the vegetables – In a large frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and stir fry until fragrant. Add carrots and cook until they are half-cooked. Add potatoes, water, salt, granulated sugar, chicken bouillon powder, and ground white pepper. Cook until the carrots and potatoes are cooked and the water is evaporated. You may add more water if the bottom starts to get sticky.
- Add the soaked vermicelli noodles and mix until well combined. Add celery and scallions. Mix until combined. Turn off the heat and cool completely before using.
Skin
- Make the dough – In a large bowl, mix all-purpose flour and salt until combined. Add margarine and mix slightly. Gradually add warm water and mix until the dough forms.
- Knead the dough until smooth with your hands.
- Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Assemble
- Divide the dough into 25-28 even pieces or about 30gr each. Roll into balls.
- Roll thinly – Place a ball on the working surface. Roll thinly with a rolling pin into a 5-inch/12cm round diameter.
- Add filling and shape – Place 1 tbsp filling and 1 slice of hard-boiled egg on the rolled dough. Fold and pinch the edges. Pleat the edges with your thumb. Continue with the rest of the dough and filling.
- Fry pastel – In a large frying pan, heat oil enough for deep frying on low-medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add 3-4 pastels in a batch. Fry until both sides are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oil and transfer to a cooling rack or paper towel-lined plate to remove the excess oil.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. You can eat them plain or with peanut sauce.
Notes
- Raw – Wrap and shape the pastels per instructions. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or plastic, not touching each other. After they are frozen, you can transfer them into a freezer-friendly ziplock bag or airtight container.
- Half-Cooked – Deep-fry the raw pastels in oil just until half-cooked. The skin should still be pale white. Remove from the oil and cool completely before transferring them into a freezer-friendly airtight container.
- Substitute chicken bouillon powder with mushroom bouillon
- Omit the hard-boiled eggs
