Hong Kong Style Chicken Pot Pie

Crack 1 egg into a bowl and whisk thoroughly with a spoon until smooth for later use.

Add 35g sugar, 10g custard powder, and 125g cake flour into a mixing bowl, then stir well with a spatula.

Pour dry mix onto countertop, add 120g unsalted butter, chop butter into small bits with dough scraper, then rub butter into flour with fingertips until fine crumbly texture like wet sand.

Make a well in the center of crumbly mixture, pour in 35g beaten egg, fold gently with a scraper into a cohesive dough, flatten into a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour (3600 seconds).

Place 120g boneless chicken thigh on cutting board, cut into small cubes about pinky fingernail size.

Slice 40g ham into thin strips, then dice into small cubes.

Dice 30g brown mushrooms into small cubes, do not slice them.

Peel ¼ onion and finely dice into small onion bits.

Add 1 tbsp cooking oil to hot pan over medium heat, add diced onion, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper; stir-fry until fragrant, translucent, and excess moisture has evaporated.

Add 120g diced chicken, 40g diced ham, and 30g diced mushrooms into the pan over medium heat; stir-fry until chicken turns opaque and mushrooms shrink, then transfer onto a plate.

Place 15g unsalted butter into the clean pan over medium-low heat, heat until completely melted and bubbling gently.

Add 15g flour to melted butter, stir constantly over medium-low heat with a spatula until smooth roux without lump forms.

Pour 50ml milk, 50ml whipping cream, and 50ml chicken broth into the pan, stir constantly over medium-low heat until brought to a boil and thickened into a smooth white sauce.

Pour the sauteed chicken, ham, mushroom, and onion mixture back into white sauce, stir gently over low heat until evenly coated.

Add 1/8 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar to filling, stir well to season evenly, then turn off heat.

Pour cooked filling into a wide shallow bowl, spread flat with a spatula, and allow to cool at room temperature or chill in refrigerator until completely cold.

Take out chilled dough, use scale and dough scraper to portion into 6 x 30g dough balls for pie bases and 6 x 20g dough balls for pie tops. Wrap top dough balls in plastic wrap and return to refrigerator.

Take a 30g dough ball, roll into a sphere, place between plastic wrap, press flat with a board into a circle, fit into foil tart tin, and press dough gently up the sides slightly higher than the rim. Repeat for all 6 pie bases.

Stir cooled filling, scoop 1 large tablespoon of filling into each pie base slightly above rim height, and level the surface smoothly with spoon.

Flatten a 20g top dough ball between plastic wrap into a round circle, drape over filled pie, and press firmly along the edge to seal top and bottom crusts together seamlessly. Repeat for all 6 pies.

Place assembled pies on baking tray and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes (1800 seconds) until dough is firm for easy egg washing and scoring.

Use a pastry brush to apply a thin, even layer of reserved beaten egg wash over the top crust of each chilled pie.

Using a wooden chopstick, lightly score 2 parallel lines across egg wash layer, rotate tray 45 degrees, score 2 more parallel lines to form a 16-diamond lattice grid pattern.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Place baking tray with chicken pies into middle rack, bake at 190°C for 10 minutes, rotate tray 180 degrees, then bake for another 10 minutes (total 20 minutes/1200 seconds) until crust is golden brown and crispy.