Bakpia
Hopia or Bakpia is a popular Indonesian and Philippine bean-filled moon cake-like pastry originally introduced by Fujianese immigrants in the urban centers of both nations around the past centuries. 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 which specialises in the pastry. These sweet rolls are similar to bigger Indonesian pia, the only difference being the size.
Types of dough
Flaky type
The flaky type of bakpia uses Chinese puff pastry. Clear examples of this can be seen in China, Taiwan and countries with established Chinese diaspora communities such as Trinidad and Tobago 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
Filipino hopia utilizes the cake-dough type in addition to the flaky type.Fillings
Below are the four traditional and most popular bakpia or hopia fillings, though recently other fillings have been created such as cappuccino, cheese, chocolate, custard, durian, mango, pineapple, screwpine, and umbi talas.Mung bean
The most popular flaky bakpia in Indonesia and hopia in the Philippines is filled with mung bean, which is called in and in Filipino/'', sometimes referred to in .'' As its name implies, it is filled with sweet split mung bean paste.Pork
Pork hopia is filled with a savoury bread-crumb paste studded with candied wintermelon, flavoured with scallion and enriched with candied pork back fat, hence its name. This type of hopia is also sometimes referred to as hopiang maalat.Purple yam
Ube hopia is a variant of hopia from the Philippines which use purple yam. The filling is reminiscent of halayáng ube, a traditional Filipino dessert eaten during Christmas season. 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 deli chain in the Binondo district of Manila noted for their fusion of Chinese and Filipino culinary traditions.