Bakpia ( jv, ꦧꦏ꧀ꦥꦶꦪ, bakpia; - the name it is known by in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) or Hopia ( - the name it is known by in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

) is a popular Indonesian and

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

bean-filled moon cake-like pastry originally introduced by Fujianese immigrants in the urban centers of both nations around the turn of the twentieth century. It is a widely available inexpensive treat and a favoured gift for families, friends and relatives. In Indonesia, it is also widely known as bakpia pathok, named after a suburb of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

which specialises in the pastry. These sweet rolls are similar to bigger Indonesian ''pia'', the only difference being the size.

Types of dough

Mongo hopia (mung bean hopia), Philippines

Flaky type

The flaky type of ''bakpia'' uses

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as ', is a flaky light pastry made from a laminated dough composed of dough (') and butter or other solid fat ('). The butter is put inside the dough (or vice versa), making a ' that is repeatedly folded and rolled out befo ...

. Clear examples of this can be seen in China (especially

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and countries with established Chinese diaspora communities such as

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and Guyana making this type the authentic Chinese ''hopia''. In addition, there is more skill involved in making this type of ''hopia'' crust.

Cake-dough type

Philippine ''hopia'' also uses the cake-dough type in addition to the flaky type. It uses a soft cookie-dough similar in texture & taste to the wrapper-dough for

fig newton Newtons are a Nabisco-trademarked version of a pastry filled with sweet fruit paste. "Fig Newtons" are the most popular variety ( fig rolls filled with fig paste). They are produced by an extrusion process. Their distinctive shape is a character ...

s. This type is very similar to Japanese bean cakes, which grants it the name ''hopiang Hapon'' (“Japanese bean cake” in Filipino).

Fillings

Below are the four traditional and most popular ''bakpia'' fillings, though recently other fillings have been created such as

cappuccino A cappuccino (; ; Italian plural: ''cappuccini'') is an espresso-based coffee drink that originated in Austria and was later popularized in Italy and is prepared with steamed milk foam ( microfoam). Variations of the drink involve the use of ...

, cheese,

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, custard, durian, mango,

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

, screwpine (pandan), and umbi talas (

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...

Mung bean

The most popular flaky ''bakpia'' both in Indonesia and the Philippines is mung bean ''bakpia'' ( Indonesian: ''bakpia kacang hijau''; Tagalog and

Visayan Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group ...

: ''hopiang munggo''), sometimes referred to as ''hopiang matamís'' ("sweet ''hopia''" in Tagalog). As its name implies, it is filled with sweet split mung bean paste.

Pork

''Hopiang baboy'' ( Tagalog and

for "pork ''hopia''") is filled with a savoury bread-crumb paste studded with candied

wintermelon ''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is the o ...

, flavoured with

scallion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus '' Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, c ...

and enriched with candied

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

back fat, hence its name. This type of ''hopia'' is also sometimes referred to as ''hopiang maalat'' (Tagalog for "salty ''hopia''").

Purple yam

''Ube hopia'' or ''hopiang ube'' is a variant of hopia from the

which use

purple yam ''Dioscorea alata'', also known as purple yam, ube (, ), or greater yam, among many other names, is a species of yam (a tuber). The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color (hence the common name), but some range in ...

(

and Tagalog: ''ube/ubi''). The filling is reminiscent of '' halayáng ube'' (ube jam), a traditional Filipino dessert eaten during

Christmas season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

. Like other ube-based dishes, it has a unique, vivid violet colour and sweet taste. ''Ube hopia'' was first introduced in the 1980s by Gerry Chua of Eng Bee Tin, a

Chinese Filipino Chinese Filipinos; tl, Tsinoy, / Tsinong Pilipino, ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Philippine Hokkien , Mandarin Chinese in the Philippines, Mandarin (also known as Filipino Chinese in the Philippines) are Filipinos of Chinese descent, mo ...

deli chain in the Binondo district of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

noted for their

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

of Chinese and Filipino culinary traditions.

Azuki bean

A variant from the Philippines that uses red azuki bean paste is called ''hopiang hapón'' (Filipino for "Japanese ''hopia''"). It differs from other ''hopia'' in that it is made from cake dough. It is small and round and is similar in filling, crust texture, and style to the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

''kuri

manjū is a traditional Japanese confection. Of the many varieties of manjū, most have an outside made from flour, rice powder, kudzu, and buckwheat, and a filling of ''anko'' (red bean paste), usually made from boiled adzuki beans and sugar. ''Man ...

'', hence its name. These are also often formed into cubes and cooked on a griddle one side at a time instead of being baked in an oven.

References

{{Filipino food Kue Indonesian Chinese cuisine Javanese cuisine Indonesian fusion cuisine Indonesian pastries Indonesian desserts Philippine cuisine Philippine fusion cuisine Chinese fusion cuisine Legume dishes