Sugar-Free Lotus Seed Paste 無糖蓮蓉餡

Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner and I am planning to make some sugar-free mooncakes with natural sweetener. Here is how I prepared my lotus seed paste with xylitol instead of cane sugar. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that looks and tastes like table sugar. Compared to sugar (sucrose) which has a glycemic index of roughly 65, xylitol has a very low glycemic index of 7 and contains 40% fewer calories than table sugar. Xylitol is not completely absorbed by the body so doesn’t cause a sudden raise in the blood sugar level. For more information on xylitol, please see the references listed at the end of this post.
中秋節將近，EC打算用天然代糖做無糖月餅於是便以木糖醇取替蔗糖做了些蓮蓉餡。木糖醇是天然甜味劑糖醇(sugar alcohol)的一種，甜度與外貌跟砂糖十分相似。蔗糖的升糖指數約為65，但木糖醇的升糖指數只是7，而熱量則是砂糖的六成。木糖醇不易被身體完全吸收，因此對餐後血糖升幅影響不大。有關更多木糖醇資料可參考網誌末段的連結。

The filling was made without any sugar. However, it doesn’t mean that it is free of carbohydrates. As mentioned before the carbohydrates in xylitol are only partially digested. Therefore not all carbohydrates in it are counted as “net carbohydrates”. Also, according to Self Nutrition Data (see link below), there are 64.5 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams of dried lotus seeds. So before consuming any diabetic pastry made with this sugar-free lotus seed paste, make sure to include those in the carb counting.
雖說EC用了天然代糖製作蓮蓉餡料，但並不代表餡料一點糖份也沒有！上文已提及木糖醇中的碳水化合物不會完全被消化，因此在轉算糖份時不用把所有碳水化合物也計算在內。此外，根據Self Nutrition Data(連結在末段)，每一百克乾蓮子含碳水化合物64.5克，因此糖尿病人食用無糖蓮蓉餡做的糕點時仍需換算碳水化合物的份量。

Sugar-Free Lotus Seed Paste
無糖蓮蓉餡

Makes about 300 g of paste
成品約重300克

Ingredients

100 g dried lotus seeds
60 g xylitol
4 Tbsp grapeseed oil

材料

乾蓮子 100克
木糖醇 60克
葡萄籽油 4湯匙

Directions 做法

Rinse the lotus seeds then soak for three to four hours until softened. Split each seed and discard the green stem if there is any. The lotus seeds I bought were stem-free but I still found lots of stems attached. So pay attention to every seed as the stems have a bitter taste.
蓮子洗淨後浸泡三至四小時至軟身，逐一剝開蓮子檢查並剔出綠色的蓮芯，EC使用去芯湘蓮，但經檢查後仍發現不少蓮芯未被除掉，蓮芯味道帶苦澀因此必須細心檢查所有蓮子。

Place rinsed lotus seeds in a pot. Fill pot with enough water to cover the lotus seeds. Bring water to a boil then simmer over medium-low heat until the lotus seeds are very tender, adding more water as needed (mine were cooked with a rice cooker). Drain while reserving the cooking liquid.
把洗淨的蓮子放在鍋中，加入蓋過蓮子的水，大火煮滾後轉中小火煮至蓮子變得軟爛，中途觀察鍋內水份，水乾便要加水(EC用電飯煲煮蓮子)，瀝乾並保留煮蓮子的水。

With an immersion blender, blender or food processor, pulse softened lotus seeds until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, adding a little bit of the reserved cooking liquid would help. Add liquid only as necessary since too much liquid will make the puree too thin which results in longer drying process.
用手提攪拌棒、攪拌機或食物處理器把煮軟的蓮子打成泥，若蓮子太杰可加少許煮蓮子的水同打，水不要放太多，否則炒蓮蓉時會很費力費時。

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick wok over medium heat. Add in the lotus seed puree and stir with a spatula until combined. Add xylitol and cook with constant stirring until the paste gets thickened. Reduce to low heat and stir in the remaining oil a tablespoonful a time, adding more only after the oil gets absorbed.
不沾鑊中加一湯匙油燒熱，加入蓮子泥中火翻炒，之後加入木糖醇炒匀，水份開始收乾時轉小火，逐湯匙加入餘下的油不斷翻炒，每次待油完全吸收後才加下一次。

Continue cooking and stirring until the paste clumps together and no longer sticks to the side of the wok and the spatula. Remove from heat. Cool completely before use. The paste can be stored in an air-tight container and kept in the fridge for two to three weeks.
繼續翻炒至蓮蓉黏成一團不再黏鑊及鏟子便可離火，待蓮蓉放涼後即可使用，蓮蓉可放在密封盒中於雪櫃保存兩至三星期。