Name: Praliné Mochi プラリネ餅
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 50g hazelnuts; 25g white chocolate; a bit of coconut oil; 40g praliné chocolate for cooking (or milk chocolate); 20g crepe dentelle - crush to small pieces; 2 tsp sugar and maybe a dash of fine salt if you like; 1 tbsp heavy cream; For the mochi :; 60g glutinous rice flour; 120ml water; 25g sugar; a dash of salt

June 3, 2021

Praliné Mochi プラリネ餅

Serving Size

15 mochi (2cm diameter silicone mold)

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

Wait Time

2 hours

Total Time

1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

50g hazelnuts
25g white chocolate
a bit of coconut oil
40g praliné chocolate for cooking (or milk chocolate)
20g crepe dentelle - crush to small pieces
2 tsp sugar and maybe a dash of fine salt if you like
1 tbsp heavy cream
For the mochi :
60g glutinous rice flour
120ml water
25g sugar
a dash of salt

Instructions

1. In a heat-safe cooking bowl, add white chocolate and microwave 1 to 1.5min at 600w. Add coconut oil and mix. Spread white chocolate thinly in each cavity (round shaped ideally) of your mold. Keep in the freezer for now.
2. Spread hazelnuts over your baking tray (lined with a baking sheet) and bake for 15 min at 160℃. Let it cool down until safe to touch. Then gently rub with your hands until skin comes off.
3. Place the nuts in a food processor and process them until finely ground (do not overmix). Set aside.
4. In a heat-safe bowl, add praline chocolate (or milk chocolate) and microwave 1 to 1.5 min at 600w. Mix and melt completely. Add ground hazelnuts in and mix. Then add crushed crepe dentelle, sugar and heavy cream. Mix well.
5. Take out the mold from the freezer and place filling in each hole. Chill in the fridge for about 1h (or until firm).
6. When filling is firm, make the mochi In a bowl, add the glutinous rice flour, sugar, salt and mix. Add the water in one go and mix well. Transfer into a cooking pot.
7. Cook over medium heat until the dough is smooth and silky (while stirring).
8. Sprinkle potato starch (katakuriko) onto the working surface and place the mochi on it. Spread potato starch over the mochi too.
9. Divide into 15 equal pieces. Take the fillings out of the fridge and take one piece. Place one mochi on the lightly floured surface and place one filling on the mochi (chocolate side down).
10. Wrap the mochi dough over the filling and close it. Dust the mochi with potato starch and shape it nice and round. Continue making with the remaining...
11. Cover with saran wrap and chill until you serve :)

November 22, 2020

Lemon shortcake

Serving Size

15cm round cake

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

1 hour

Total Time

2 hours

Ingredients

For the sponge cake :

2 eggs
60g white sugar
35g plain flour or cake flour (T45) - sifted
20g wheat starch - sifted (or 20g cake flour)
15g unsalted butter
20ml milk

For the syrup :

3 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp sugar

For the cream :

300g heavy cream (more than 35% fat is preferable)
40g white sugar (10%)
6g cremfix (whipped cream stabilizer) - better use this if your cream is less than 35% fat

For the lemon cream :

40ml lemon juice (sieved)
1 egg
50g white sugar
10g unsalted butter
1/2 tbsp corn starch

Instructions

We get the sponge cake done
1. Sift together the flour and wheat starch. Set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the syrup ingredients (water and sugar) and bring to a boil. Cook until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Set aside.
2. Line the bottom and the sides of a 15 cm circle cake pan with parchment paper. Tip : Put a bit of butter on the inside of the cake pan, it helps the parchment paper stick to it. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl add eggs and sugar. Whisk to combine in a hot water bath with an electric mixer until the mixture whitens, doubles in volume and forms ribbons (about 5~6min). Remove from the hot water bath and slow down to low speed for a few seconds and then stop.
4. Gently add the sifted flour mixture from #1 and mix with a egg whisk until incorporated. (make sure the batter is free of lumps.)
5. Microwave the butter (15g) and milk (20ml) for 15 sec at 600W, mix until the butter is melted.. Add about 2 tbsp of cake mixture (from #4) and mix. Pour the butter mixture little by little into the rest of the cake mixture from #4. Mix gently with a spatula until it is homogeneous. Do not over mix.
6. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake pan and gently tap the bottom of the pan on your counter top a few times to eliminate air pockets. Bake for about 20min or until done. Insert a skewer in the center of the cake : if there is no sticky butter residual, then your baking is done.
7. Remove from the oven and take the cake out of the pan. Let it cool to room temperature on the wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the lemon curd
8. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg and sugar. In an another microwave safe bowl, add lemon juice and microwave 20~25s at 600W. Gradually add the hot lemon juice into the egg mixture. Mix well after each addition. Add the corn starch (sifted) and mix.
9. Transfer the egg mixture into a cooking pot, using a sieve. Add the butter and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
And fix the whipping cream
10. In a mixing bowl, combine the whipping cream and sugar, beat at high speed until stiff.
NOTE : if your cream is less than 35% fat, I recommend you to add whipped cream stabilizer (I used "cremfix" here). In that case, mix the cream stabilizer to the sugar ahead of this step. Add when your cream is getting a soft peak, then continue to beat until firm-peak.
Put it all together
11. Using a sharp knife trim 2 to 3 mm from the top and the bottom of the cake to remove the brown surface layer. Then slice horizontally in 2 halves. Place 1 layer of cake, brush syrup from #1 on top, spread lemon cream, and then spread whipped cream. Repeat this one more time (cake+syrup+lemon). Finally add the top sponge cake layer, spread and whipped cream on top and sides of the cake.
12. Sprinkle with any nuts your like to decorate. (I used Pralin for this cake.) Let sit in the fridge until you serve.

September 19, 2020

Homemade Gyoza Wrappers with Kitchenaid

Gyoza Wrappers w KitchenAid Stand mixer

Serving Size

about 12 to 15 gyoza wrappers

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

100g cake flour/plain flour (T45)
1/3 tsp fine salt
1/2 tbsp rice flour (optional)
50ml boiled water

Instructions

1. Add flour, salt and rice flour into a large bowl and stir well. Add hot water and stir with a rubber spatula. Then knead the dough by hand for about 1 to 2 minutes until it gets smooth. You can shape it into a ball.
2. Let the dough sit in the bowl for about 15 min, covered with a damp cloth.
3. Remove the bowl of your stand mixer and attach the pasta roller to it.
4. Take some of the dough (about 1/3), shape into an oval. Flatten it and dust it with flour on both sides.
5. Feed the dough through the pasta roller (setting 1 - thickest), at least 3 to 5 times or until the dough is smooth. Turn dial to the thickness setting 3 or 4 and run the dough through once or twice. Repeat (once or twice) at each following position until you reach setting 8. The target thickness really depends on your own preference. I like thin skin, so I roll it until setting 8 :)
6. Lay the rolled out sheet of dough on a cutting board and cut it out, using a circle cookie cutter (8~9cm diameter suggested). Dust the cut out wrappers with katakuriko/potato starch and set aside. Repeat as many times as you can.
Gather all the scrap dough, put it all together and re-roll it a few times until it becomes thin layers again.

Notes

I usually make 300g for 5 people.

August 12, 2020

Milky Tonkotsu Udon with Soy Milk

Milky Tonkosu Udon with Soy Milk

Persons

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
20g fresh ginger - thinly julienne
1L water
1L soy milk
500g Pork shoulder (or pork belly) - thinly sliced
2 tbsp white sesame

For the seasoning :

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp chicken bouillon powder or weipa
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sriracha
Udon noodles for 5 people

Instructions

1. In a large cooking pot, heat 2 tbsp sesame oil and cook garlic, ginger and sesame until fragrant. Add pork and stir-fry until the meat is no longer pink.
2. Pour the water (1L), and add all the seasoning ingredients, soy milk (1L). Bring it to almost boil and set aside.
3. Boil the udon noodles according to the package directions, drain them very well and transfer into a milky bouillon which you have made (step 2). Bring it to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Divide the udon and soup into serving bowls.
Enjoy!

August 6, 2020

Oreo pocky

Prep Time

45 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Total Time

55 minutes

Ingredients

40g cake flour/plain flour (T45)
10g whole-wheat flour
15g unsalted butter
15ml whole milk
15g white sugar
dash of salt
2 to 3 oreo cookies - remove the cream layer inside the oreo cookies.
60g white chocolate

Instructions

1. Place flour, sugar, salt in a food processor and process to mix, then add butter and milk. Re-process the machine and run until blended well (until the dough turns like a crumbly ball).
2. Transfer the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it to shape into a circle. Roll out the dough to about 0.3 to 0.5 cm thickness square shape and cut them into a long stick shape using the knife.
3. Place them on the baking sheet you prepared.
4. Bake them for about 8 to 10 mins preheated oven (180℃). Let the pocky cool down completely.
5. Process the cookies to a fine crumb in a food processor. Set aside.
6. Melt the white chocolate in a hot water bath (50℃), brush the chocolate all sides of pocky, let the excess drip off. Immediately sprinkle oreo crumbs over the chocolate. Repeat all pocky to finish. Place on the plate and chill until chocolate has set.

August 4, 2020

Nutella cream cheese cake

Serving Size

18cm whole cake

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Ingredients

For the base cookie crumb :

50g plain flour/cake flour (T45)
12g almond powder
50g sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
dash of salt
45g unsalted butter

For the nutella cream layer :

100ml heavy cream
1/2 tbsp white sugar
110g mascarpone cheese
5g gelatin sheet
150g nutella paste

For the topping :

2 tbsp your favorite nuts ( I used Praline here) - crushed

Instructions

1. Line the bottom of a 18 cm circle cake pan (removable bottom) with parchment paper.
2. Process flour, almond powder, sugar, salt and cocoa powder in a food processor for a few seconds and then add butter. Process until mixture becomes crumbly : do not process too much as the dough should be crumbly.
3. Spread the crumbs onto the baking sheet and bake for about 25 mins at 160℃. Remove from the oven. While the crumbs is hot, press them into the bottom, using a spatula. Set the cake pan aside.
4. In a bowl, add the heavy cream and whip to soft peak, set aside.
5. In an another bowl, add mascarpone and sugar. Mix well until soft. Add nutella and mix together well.
6. Soak gelatin sheet in water for a few minutes, then remove from the water and put in a microwave-safe cup. Microwave for about 15 sec at 600W. Melt it completely and pour over the mascarpone mixture (step 5). Mix well.
7. Add whipped cream (step 4) and mix gently with a spatula.
8. Pour the cream mixture into the cake pan. Flat the top of cake and sprinkle crushed nuts over the cake. Chill it until it has set.