Char Siew Su 叉烧酥 is a beloved pastry made with sweet and savoury char siew filling, encased with a buttery puff pastry crust. 

Traditionally enjoyed during festive occasions like Lunar New Year or even just a regular day, this pastry is extra meaningful for many Singaporean families – rich, indulgent and nostalgic. 

This recipe uses classic Chinese pastry techniques, combining water dough and oil dough to create delicate layers. For the lamination, as long as there’s enough fat between the dough, it will be flaky and delicious! 

Write up referenced and taken from Yeo Min’s cookbook “Chinese Pastry School”

Note: 

• Puff pastry is a dough with thousands of layers separated by fat. As the pastry bakes, the fat melts and water from the dough turns into steam, which causes the layers to separate and puff up. 
• Good puff pastry takes time to master – but fear not! Understanding how gluten works is the first step to making this lovely, crispy pastry. Gluten, or 面筋 (mian jin) in Chinese, acts like a dough’s muscle. You knead a dough to help it build “muscles”, but these “muscles” need rest to become elastic.
• You should be able to roll out the dough easily once the gluten has had enough rest. If you observe any resistance, just pop the dough back into the fridge and let it rest a little longer! And catch a little rest yourself too 🙂