Tag Archives: baking

Cooking

Japanese baking

Okay, extending this post.

The fluffy cheesecake has been making (jiggly) waves across social media thanks to BuzzFeed Tasty. 

For my first iteration, I took justonecookbook’s recipe and halved it for a 6″ pan. It came out less fluffy and more tart than I expected. My friend then offered me a tried and true recipe to use for next time. Will be updated after next trial.

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

  • Prepare 6-in cake pan, lined with parchment paper on bottom and at least 4” on sides.
  • Over double boiler, melt 150g (5.3 oz) cream cheese, 2 tbsp butter, 100 ml (.42 cups) heavy cream
  • Whisk in 3 egg yolks slowly.
  • Sift in 4.5 tbsp cake flour (approx. 4 tbsp all-purpose flour, .5 tbsp cornstarch)
  • Zest in half lemon, add 2 tbsp lemon juice.
  • Refrigerate.
  • Whip 3 egg whites, cold, until opaque and bubbly (2 minutes). Slowly add 100g (~1/2 cup) sugar, then beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
  • Fold meringue into batter gently in thirds.
  • In water bath, bake at 320 F for 70-75 minutes, then 300 F for 10 minutes, until top is golden brown.
  • Dust with confectioner’s sugar, serve with strawberries.

 

With the leftover cream and borrowed cake pan and mixer, I couldn’t help whipping up (literally) another Japanese style pastry. They love their fluffy things. Recipe from washoku.guide.

Except it didn’t turn out that fluffy. Boo.

Matcha Sponge Cake

  • Line 6” springform pan with parchment paper.
  • In clean bowl, whip 2 egg whites while gradually adding 80g (~3/8 cup) sugar. Whip meringue to stiff peaks.
  • Mix in 2 egg yolks.
  • Sift in 66g cake flour (~1/2 cup AP flour, 1 tbsp cornstarch) plus 6g (~1 tbsp) matcha. Then fold in.
  • Melt 20g (1.5 tbsp) butter into 33ml (2tbsp + 1 tsp) milk. Slowly stir into batter.
  • Pour batter into mold. Eliminate bubbles, smooth surface.
  • Bake 30-35 minutes at 170 C (340 F)
  • Cool on rack, then refrigerate for a day.
  • Slice horizontally and fill with (matcha) whipped cream. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Matcha Whipped Cream

  • Freeze metal bowl and metal whisk for 10-15 minutes.
  • Add 1/2 cup heavy cream over 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp matcha. Whip to stiff peaks.

 

Castella (Japanese honey cake)

I may import the recipe here to better categorize it.

Cooking

Zucchini Bread

It’s like banana bread, but with fewer bananas (0) and more squashes (1). This is what it looks like being made.

Recipe from simplyrecipes.com. Could probably do with <.75 stick butter though haha. Walnuts and dried cranberries are great additions.

Zucchini Bread

  • 1.5-2 cups zucchini (approx. one large squash), coarsely grate and drain.
  • 6 tbsp melted butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/8 tsp salt, 2/3 cup sugar. Add zucchini.
  • Add 1.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.
  • Add optionally 1/2 cup nuts and/or dried berries.
  • 350 F, 50 minutes, until clean toothpick.

 

Cooking

Scones

Originally we sourced a recipe for healthier scones from womensday.com which called for sour cream, except I didn’t have sour cream, so now I just make it with yogurt anyway.

It’s all in cutting the butter, and I take a shortcut by basically mincing the butter before dumping it into the powder.

Rosemary Cranberry Scones

  • 2 cups flour, ¼ cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt. Whisk.
  • 6 tbsp cold butter. Cut up with knives into little chunks and incorporate into powder.
  • ¾ cup craisins, 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped. Mix in. (or 1 cup chocolate chips)
  • 1 egg, ⅔ cup yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk, then add. Don’t overbeat.
  • On floured surface, shape into 1-inch thick round. Cut into 8 slices.
  • 425 F, 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.

 

Cooking

A Japanese meal

Despite being Taiwanese, my family is probably more into Japanese food. Time to make some.

 

Oyakodon (chicken and egg on rice)

I like this dish so much that I used to order it at all sorts of Japanese restaurants, even forgoing other delicacies. Last year, my mom taught me her version, which is like a Taiwan/Japan hybrid with lots of egg. This time, I’m aiming for more traditional: steaming in the sukiyaki broth, following justonecookbook.com. (last updated 8/29/17)

170204-5740

    • In a small pan, 1/4 cup dashi (1/8 tsp hondashi in boiling water), 1 tbsp mirin, (1 tsp sake), 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar.
    • Add 1/2 small onion thinly sliced in single layer.
    • Add on top 1-1.5 chicken thighs cut into bites obliquely and seasoned with salt and pepper.
    • Simmer covered on medium for 10 minutes.
    • Drizzle in 1 egg. Stir around to distribute. Garnish with scallions/mitsuba. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until egg is just set.
    • Slide onto bowl of white rice.

 

Chawanmushi (savory egg custard)

My mom makes it with chicken broth instead of dashi. Huh?! Tracking this japancentre.com recipe, with input from here and here.

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  • 3 eggs, beat gently
  • 1 cup dashi (1/2 tsp hondashi powder in 1 cup boiling water), 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, pinch salt.
    • can substitute with about 1 cup (equivalent of 1.5x volume of eggs) warm chicken broth.
  • Mix into egg slowly. strain through fine sieve.
    • Can add shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko fish cake, carrots, marinated strips chicken shrimp. arrange in bowl and pour egg around.
  • steam 5 minutes medium bowl, then open pot to let out steam, then steam 3 more minutes, until clean toothpick.
    • Can garnish with scallions/mitsuba at halfway point of steaming.

 

Miso Soup

Following instructions on the miso packaging, haha

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  • miso paste, sugar, dashi (ratio?), water.
  • serve with scallions, tofu, kombu.

I also stir fried lotus root.

 

For the grand finale:

Castella (Japanese Honey Cake)

I followed this recipe from justonecookbook.com/castella to the letter. Paraphrased here.

170204-5730

  • 3 eggs, at room temp. Beat thoroughly.
  • Add 1/2 cup sugar, with electric hand mixer beat at highest speed for 7+ minutes, until quadruples in volume.
  • 2.5 tbsp honey, diluted with ~2 tbsp warm water, mix in for 30 sec at low speed.
  • 3/4 cup bread flour, double sifted. add in thirds, mixing 15 sec at low speed in between, 1 min at end. Don’t overmix.
  • Pour batter into parchment paper-lined 9×5 metal pan. Dredge with toothpick to break large air bubbles. Drop on counter to level.
  • 325 F, 35 minutes, until clean toothpick.
  • Wrap tightly in plastic, refrigerate overnight upside down.
  • Cut off sides, serve in slices.

updated 3/25, fixing a typo.