Vietnamese Pate Chaud (Meat Pie)

This flaky savory Vietnamese pastry is unique and delicious! Pate Chaud is very easy to make and is a definite crowd-pleaser!

Pate chaud or Banh pate so translates into “hot pastry pie” in French. Pate chaud is a popular French-inspired pastry that is eaten in Vietnam. It is a flaky lightly layered pastry that is traditionally filled with ground pork before it is baked. Ground chicken and beef are sometimes used as well. Adding fish sauce to the meat filling makes the pastry distinctive to Vietnam.

This was one of my favorite things to eat growing up. When I was a kid my family and I would go to our local Vietnamese deli and warming in the display case would be buttery pork pate chaud. After ordering our banh mi sandwiches my parents would usually order some pate chaud for me. The cashier would use their tongs and place some pate chaud in a paper bag for me. I would eat them in the car and enjoy the flaky layers leading to the savory meat filling.

I liked them so much my father experimented making them in our own kitchen. He would get puff pastry from the store and seasoned the filling with fish sauce and white pepper. I would watch him make them and get excited to eat them every time. I would eat them for breakfast or lunch and sometimes for dinner if I was lucky. It was actually through his process that I learned the importance of parchment paper. My father has made the pate chaud with wax paper and foil because he ran out of parchment paper, and he burned the bottoms of the pastries.

As I got older I wanted to make pate chaud for myself. I have created them with the traditional pork filling and my aunt taught me how to them with turkey filling as well. They are still one of my favorite foods to this day and I hope that you like my recipe! Please enjoy!

Vietnamese Pate Chaud Recipe

Yields 12 pastries

Specialty Tools: Rolling pin, parchment paper, paring knife, and pastry brush

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Bake Time: 25 to 30 minutes

Inactive Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

16 ounces ground pork or turkey

1/2 yellow onion, chopped finely

2 carrots, shredded

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 teaspoons white pepper

Flour for dusting

1 17.3 ounce package of frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg for egg wash

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground pork or turkey, onion, carrots, fish sauce, white pepper. Using your hands to mix this is best.

Let the mixture marinate for 20 minutes for the best flavor.

Flour a flat surface like your counter or cutting board.

Lay the 2 puff pastry sheets on the floured surface. Flour the rolling pin and roll over the puff pastry. Close up any previous factory made perforations.

Using a sharp knife, like a paring knife, cut 12 rectangles out of each sheet. You will have a total of 24 rectangles in all. Roll each rectangle to all be equal in size.

Spoon meat mixture onto 12 puff pastry rectangles.

Top each with another puff pastry rectangle. Crimp the pastry sheets together with a fork. Cut a slash or two on the surface of the puff pastry to vent.

Place the pate chaud onto prepared cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash.

Brush the egg wash onto the tops of each of the puff pastries.

Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until hot and golden.

Let the pate chaud rest for 10 minutes before eating.

The egg wash is important to make the puff pastry look golden and delectable!

Sprinkle some sesame seeds after applying the egg wash to make the pate chaud look more elegant.

If you want richer flavor, sauté and brown the onions first before putting them in the filling.

Using turkey will make this dish more lean.

Defrosting the puff pastry properly is important for even baking. Make sure to follow the directions on your specific frozen puff pastry package.

DID YOU MAKE THIS DISH?

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