Wife Biscuits

When I was 14, grandma, mum and I headed to Hong Kong for a 1 week holiday. During that trip, we were surrounded by wonderful food. Noodles, desserts and most of all..pastries!

Loh Po Peng or it's literal translation which means "Wife Biscuits" are flaky pastry with a sweet filling inside. The filling is made of tong ton qua-meaning "Melon sweets" or "Melon sugar".

There are a few stories associated with this biscuit. I did a quick search on goggle and I found them.

Story 1

In ancient China, there was a poor couple. They adored and loved each other, staying in a small village. When a mysterious disease spread, the husband's father became very sick. Although they tried really hard to raise money to provide treatment for him, it wasn't enough. Sadly, the wife decided to sell herself as a slave, exchanging herself for her father-in-law's medicine.

Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with winter melon and with a crispy crust. A cake for his wife. However, his cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back.

Reference-Wikepedia
Makes me wonder why he didn't sell these earlier? perhaps the money was needed more urgently...hmmm..

Story 2
A loving couple make their living out of selling pastries and cakes. The man, however, had a bad habit-he gambles. One day, he literally lost their savings and everything they own.

The wife said to him that he has to sell the only possession he has left. However, he is not to gamble anymore. Sadly, the wife was sold to repaid his debts.

Ridden by guilt, the man stopped gambling and started making this pastry to remind him of his wife-hence the name of the biscuit "wife biscuit"

Reference-Eat first think later

I was pleasantly surprised when I came across Little Corner's post on wife biscuits! Another blogger, Florence has posted a step by step guide on how to make these beauties!

I'm not going to post her recipe here because her step by step instructions came with pictures as well! So if you want to give this a go, do have a look at it. I didn't change anything at all btw-it was as good as it was.

I did make some mistakes though. For instance, my oil dough wasn't... oily enough! It was quite dry. I might want to use olive oil instead of butter to make that dough. I think that was the reason why my biscuits wasn't as flaky as they ought to be.

The filling was FANTASTIC. The best thing about these biscuits-u get to eat them as soon as they cooled a little. It was so so good. Very addictive. AR finished FIVE in one SITTING!

Yes yes, I know, I was feeling abit hardworking last month and actually spent a little more time thinking and making these challenging biscuits/pastries...It was challenging to me! It felt so good and makes me wonder why did I take up Clinical Psych and not baking? *knock head on the wall*

I did make these BEFORE we got engaged... haha.. and no! I wasn't hinting or anything.. I simply got excited when I saw Little corner's recipe and proceeded to make them that weekend.


Ps-did u notice a black book on the right hand side of the picture? That's the official APA guide on referencing. Yup! I was err...reading and kneading the dough at the same time.

PPS-anyone know of the recipe for "husband biscuits"?


Have a fantastic FRIDAY! We will be visiting more venues and talking to a few photographers this weekend so expect wedding talk on Monday! =)