Hoenderpastei (South African Chicken Pie) is a traditional South African recipe for a classic pie of chicken, ham and hard-boiled egg in a white wine stock base thickened with broken vermicelli and an egg and lemon juice liaison that's baked in with a shortcrust pastry topping. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic South African version of: South African Chicken Pie (Hoenderpastei).
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This is a classic South African dish where the traditional Victorian British pie is given a Cape Malay twist the the addition of sweet spices.
Ingredients:
2kg chicken, divided into portions
100ml white wine
1 bayleaf
1 tbsp vermicelli, broken into small pieces
500g savoury shortcrust pastry
2 onions
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
50g butter
juice of 1 lemon
100g cooked ham, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
yolk of 1 raw egg
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Combine the white wine and a bayleaf in a saucepan. Pour in 600ml (2 1/2 cups) water then add the chicken pieces and the broken vermicelli. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally during this time.
Take off the heat and remove the chicken pieces with a wooden spoon. Set these aside. Remove and discard the bayleaf.
In a jug, whisk together the lemon juice and the raw egg yolk. Stir this mixture into the stock remaining in the pan, along with the butter and spices. Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Arrange the chicken pieces in the base of a deep pie dish. Intersperse the chicken with the ham and hard-boiled egg slices. Pour over the sauce then roll out the shortcrust pastry until large enough to cover the pie dish. Sit the pastry on top (it will be quite thick) and crimp to the sides of dish. Trim off the excess then cut two steam holes in the centre of the pastry.
Brush the crust with a little milk to glaze, then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the pie contents are piping hot.
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