Prepare the filling (can be done a few days before):
Preheat 1 Tbsp of oil. Add garlic and onion and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. If using raw chicken meat, add it here and saute until they turn opaque. Add carrots, potatoes, and sweet corn. Stir to mix everything. Add chicken broth/water and cover with a lid to let the steam cook soften the potatoes and carrots. Uncover the lid and add the shredded chicken meat (if using), bean thread noodles, and chopped green onion. Season with pepper and salt and adjust the taste to your preference. Cook until the noodles are softened
Sprinkle in the all-purpose flour and stir to mix. This will help the filling to stick together better and it's easier to wrap later. Remove from the heat and let the filling cool down before wrapping
If using ready-made puff pastry dough:
Follow the instruction on the puff pastry box you bought. Most likely you need to leave the puff pastry at room temperature for a few minutes to let it soften a bit before you can roll and cut
Unroll the puff pastry sheet and roll out with a rolling pin to about 1.5 mm in thickness. Use a round cutter, about 4-5 inches in diameter to cut the dough. Gather all the extra dough and roll it out again and cut more. Proceed to wrap and shape
Prepare the puff pastry dough:
Cut the butter into small cubes and then place in the freezer for about 10 minutes while you prepare other things
Place flour, salt, cold cubed butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, just use a pastry cutter to mix the flour mixture with the cold butter. Continue to pulse while adding in cold water until when you press on the crumbs with your fingers, it can form a dough. Knead with your hands into a dough. Flatten into a disc shape. Wrap with a plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Keep the rest in the fridge. Work with one dough at a time. The dough might be stiff and hard initially. As you handle it with your hands, your body heat will soften it. Knead it a few times and shape into a ball and then roll it out into a 5-inch round or oval shape. Proceed to wrap and shape
Wrap and shape the pastel:
Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling or more (depending on how big you want it to be, cut don't fill up too much). Brush the edge with egg wash. Fold into half to form a half-circle and then press to seal the edge with your fingers. Press the edges until it's quite thin and then fold and press to crimp the edge. Alternatively, you can use a fork to imprint and seal the edge too. Continue with the rest of the filling and the dough
Fry the pastel:
Preheat about 3 inches of cooking oil over high heat. Once the oil is hot, lower it to medium and then carefully fry one pastel over medium heat until golden brown on one side and then flip over to fry until golden brown on the other side. Watch the heat as we don't want it to burn the pastel
Remove with slotted spoon and place on an absorbent paper towel and repeat with the rest
Bake the pastel:
If you choose to bake, preheat oven to 375 F. Place pastel on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the shaped pastel with egg wash on one side and then bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and then flip over and brush egg wash on the other side and bake again for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown