Bánh Patê Sô is a flaky, buttery, portable meat pie made with pork, pâté and puff pastry. It's always reminded me of an English sausage roll, except the pork filling is not exposed. Rather, it is completely wrapped in the puff pastry. The dish is also often spelled Pâté Chaud, which means "hot pie" in French colonial Vietnam. You wouldn't use that phrasing now, as you'd likely call a pork filling wrapped in pork pastry something like pâté en croûte, but the name has remained for this beloved Franco-Vietnamese snack ever since.
Pin Vietnamese Pork Pastries (Pâté Chaud or Bánh Patê Sô) To Try Later!
I always looked forward to waking up to these flaky, pillowy pockets of goodness for breakfast. My mom would make hundreds at a time and freeze them for an easy morning meal. French pâté was hard for us to find sometimes, and we eventually switched to using German liverwurst, which is commercially available at most grocery stores and gave the pastries a delicious savory depth. To make the filling more tender, my mom adds minced jicama or water chestnut. There's nothing worse to me than biting into a dry, bland pâté chaud!
These puff pastry bites make a great appetizer as well. I brought a tray over to my boyfriend's place while he and his friends were watching football, and they disappeared before my eyes.
🥧 Ingredients
You will need:
- 1 small onion, diced (about 140g, 5oz or 1 cup)
- ⅓ cup minced jicama or canned water chestnut (about 4oz or 110g)
- ½ pound ground pork (8 oz)
- ⅓ lb or 4 oz liverwurst or French pâté (more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 sheets (2 packages) frozen puff pastry
- 1 egg
🔪 Instructions
Melt butter in a large pan or skillet over medium heat and sweat the diced onions until they are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the diced jicama or diced canned water chestnut and continue to cook until onions are fully softened, about 3-5 more minutes.
Turn off the heat and add the uncooked ground pork and liverwurst or pâté. Mix thoroughly until you get a homogenous mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (TIP: You can scoop a small piece of the pork mixture into a bowl and microwave it to taste for salt. It won't be the right texture because you're cooking it in the microwave, but you'll be able to safely taste your food for seasoning.)
Take your defrosted puff pastry and cut the sheets into identical rectangles or squares. I cut each of my sheets into 15 small rectangles, but it doesn't matter how big or small you make them.
Scoop a small piece of the pork mixture into a puff pastry piece, top with another piece and use a fork to crimp the edges together. Make sure to press the tines of your fork all the way through both puff pastry layers, so that the hot pie does not explode in the oven.
Arrange your pâté chaud on a lined sheet pan and store then in the fridge for about 15 minutes giving them and egg wash and transferring them to the oven. Keeping them cold before baking them helps the layers develop.
Your pâté chaud are cooked once the puff pastry has risen and turned a deep golden brown color.
💭 Tips and substitutions
These pastries are so easily adaptable! Try using ground chicken or turkey for a lower fat filling option. If you're a vegetarian, you can use a ground meat alternative like Impossible or Beyond Beef, and find a vegetarian pâté, like a vegan mushroom pâté.
During lent, I will often fill puff pastry with tuna salad and bake them for a meatless âté chaud.
These should be kept chilled until they are ready to be baked. Puff pastry is made of layers of dough and butter. When you bake it, the water in the butter evaporates, separating the dough into the flaky layers. Baking with a cold pastry helps the butter evaporate rather than melting right away and making a greasy mess in your pan.
🍚 Serving suggestions
This dish is great as a finger food/appetizer for parties, such as football nights. Make larger ones for breakfast, served with a hot cup of Vietnamese coffee.
For a full party spread, try serving these with my crab rangoon dip and fish sauce glazed chicken wings.
🥡 How to store or make in advance
These can be made well in advance and frozen right before the egg wash stage. Layer pieces of parchment paper or saran wrap between the pastries so that they don't stick together. They can be baked from frozen, right after brushing them with an egg wash.
The unbaked patê sô will keep in the fridge for up to 6 months or longer if you can find an airtight container.
The ingredients in this recipe are easily scaled up to make more. You can also freeze any filling you don't use and get fresh puff pastry to fill when you're ready to eat them.
👪 Serving size
This recipe made 30 pastries for me. I was able to cut each sheet into 15 small rectangles. You may get more or fewer pastries depending on how large you make them. I can easily serve these as an appetizer for a party of four or five with one recipe.
📋 Recipe
Vietnamese Pork Pastries (Pâté Chaud or Bánh Patê Sô)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, diced (about 140g, 5oz or 1 cup)
- ⅓ cup minced jicama or minced canned water chestnut (about 4oz or 110g)
- ½ lb ground pork (8oz)
- ¼ lb liverwurst (4oz), but you can add more to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 sheets frozen puff pastry (2 17.25oz packages)
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit
- Melt butter in a large pan or skillet over medium heat and sweat the diced onions until they are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the diced jicama or diced canned water chestnut and continue to cook until onions are fully softened, about 3-5 more minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the uncooked ground pork and liverwurst or pâté. Mix thoroughly until you get a homogenous mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Take your defrosted puff pastry and cut the sheets into identical rectangles or squares. I cut each of my sheets into 15 small rectangles, but it doesn't matter how big or small you make them.
- Scoop a small piece of the pork mixture into a puff pastry piece, top with another piece and use a fork to crimp the edges together. Make sure to press the tines of your fork all the way through both puff pastry layers, so that the hot pie does not explode in the oven.
- Arrange your pâté chaud on a lined sheet pan and store then in the fridge for about 15 minutes giving them and egg wash and transferring them to the oven.
- Your pâté chaud are cooked once the puff pastry has risen and turned a deep golden brown color, about 30 minutes.
Nutrition
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Michelle says
Can I ask how hot do you set the oven too?!
Suzanne Nuyen says
Hi! As the recipe states, the oven should be set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Kasy Allen says
These look delicious! My husband's mother makes a version of this with cabbage and everything by hand so it takes a lot of time. I'll have to try your version as it look like a quicker way to make them!
Suzanne Nuyen says
Using store bought puff pastry makes everything go so quickly!
Chritina says
This is a perfect appetizer for entertaining! My mouth is watering, I can't wait to make these!
Suzanne Nuyen says
Yes, I use this as an appetizer all the time!
Sunrita | Spiceitupp says
What a handy little snack to have for picnics and larger gatherings. Pinning this for future reference.