Raindrop Cake

Today I tried the raindrop cake. I was able to try it at a local restaurant and thought it was so fun! The entire dessert is really for texture and the toppings. The "cake" itself tastes like water and really just provides textures for the toppings that you add.

You need:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/8 tsp agar agar powder
• roasted soybean flour
• brown sugar syrup
• dome mold (I recommend a single, hard one like one for whiskey)

Heat the water on medium-low. Sprinkle the agar agar and stir until it dissolves (about a minute). Pour into your mold and let it firm up.

Experiment #1:

I used 1.5 cup water and 1/4 tsp agar agar. I poured it into my silicone mold and let it firm up for 1 hour, 2 hours, then overnight. 

My results for #1:

The texture of the raindrop cake was awesome. So velvety and soft. Unfortunately only the first one came out "round". I think a silicone mold isn't the best option for a soft texture like this. I also don't think it's good to have one that has multiple cups. I was trying to move the first one out and I think the other ones kind of "broke" while I was trying.

Because of my silicone mold, I think all of them kind of broke so none of the other ones successfully came out.

The rest were clear, but all came out as blobs.

Apple Jello

Ben loves a dessert from a local Japanese restaurant and I decided to try my best to recreate it.

I started with unflavored gelatine and the back of the box lists a recipe for Fruit Juice KNOX Blox. It says to bring 3 cup of apple juice to a boil. Meanwhile, sprinkle 4 envelopes (1 oz) Unflavored Gelatine with 1 cup apple juice in a large bowl. Let it stand for a minute. Then combine the hot juice to softened gelatine. For a Special Extra, it says to add 2 Tbsp sugar or honey.

Since I want to experiment, I reduced the recipe.

From right to left here is my first experiment:

#1 (right): 1 cup apple juice & 1 envelope Unflavored Gelatine. 

It was too hard and predictably tasteless. The apple flavor is mostly lost once it firms up.

#2 (middle): 1 cup apple juice, 1 envelope Unflavored Gelatine & 1 Tbsp sugar. 

It was better since it was sweeter. I forgot that I reduced the original recipe by 1/4 but I only reduced the sugar by 1/2. There was still no apple taste but now it had some sweetness.

#3 (left): 1 cup apple juice, 1 envelope Unflavored Gelatine, 1 Tbsp sugar & 1/2 tsp Apple Extract. 

Since I had previously experimented with apple jello before, I knew that the apple flavor is usually lost after it becomes jello. In preparation for this time, I purchased some Apple Extract from Amazon to help bring out the apple flavor. It was the best from this experiment. It was sweet and we could taste the apple flavor. It was still too hard though.

The results: Too hard. I think this original recipe is meant for jigglers (jello that is firm enough to be cut into shapes). I should have predicted as much since the recipe says you can cut into squares after 3 hours. So I start to experiment with more liquid.

#4 is an attempt to get the jello less firm.

• 1.5 apple juice 
• 1 envelope Unflavored Gelatine
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp Apple Extract

Bring half of the apple juice to a boil. In a bowl, combine the other half of apple juice with 1 envelope Gelatine. Let it stand for a minute and then pour the hot apple juice in. Add sugar and stir to melt. Add Apple Extract and stir to combine. Refrigerate until firm.

This version was much better and much less firm. I'll probably try to add a little more liquid next time to see how soft I can get but I think Ben is pretty happy with this version since he likes the jello a bit firm.

We also did a blind taste test yesterday between the 100% apple juice in a bottle (in the picture above) and the 100% apple juice from Martinelli's. Martinelli's won the taste test and it was just more flavorful than the regular bottle version. I think using this as your apple juice base will also help bring out the apple flavor when you're experimenting with this recipe. Who knows, maybe it's strong enough to the point that you don't need to add any extra apple extract!

Japanese Cheesecake Attempt #3

I had this recipe for Japanese cheesecake but it didn't completely match my recipe in Attempts #1 and #2. I'm not sure if I had a different recipe or all these alterations were from comments. So this time, I decided to try this version without any alterations.

Ingredients:

130g caster sugar (super fine sugar)
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
60g unsalted butter (room temperature)
250g cream cheese (room temperature). Use the blocks, not the spread (too watery)
250ml milk
55g cake flour
20g cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 150C (302F). Measure out your ingredients. I would suggest sifting the ingredients so that when you need it later, you don't lose any weight because of lumps.


2. Prep your pan - lightly grease and add parchment paper to your cake pan. Find a larger pan that your cake pan will fit into so that it's ready to go for the water bath. If it's a spring pan, wrap the outside of the cake pan with foil so that the water doesn't leak in.

3. Use a double boiler to warm up the milk and add the cream cheese. When that is smooth, add butter and stir until smooth. Make sure the water under the double boiler does not touch the pan. Let the mixture cool a bit.

4. After it has cooled a bit, add the egg yolk. (You don't want it too warm because you don't want to cook the egg right now).

5. Combine the cake flour and corn flour. Sift in the flours into the cream cheese mixture a little bit at a time. Stir well between each addition to make sure it's combined. Stir in lemon zest. Set the cream cheese mixture aside. Save the water from the double boiler since you can use it later. You may want to heat up some more (depending on the size of your pan).

6. In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Then add sugar and beat until stiff peaks.

7. Take 1/3 meringue and fold into the cheese mixture, then fold in another 1/3 of meringue. After incorporated, pour the batter back to the remaining 1/3 meringue and fold. FOLD GENTLY.

Pour the mixture into your cake pans that have parchment paper. Fill the outside pan with the hot water from your double boiler until half of the cake pan is touching water. BE VERY CAREFUL CARRYING THIS TO THE OVEN. It will be heavy and you don't want to spill hot water on yourself.

(recommendation: I should have cut the parchment paper more. The excess parchment paper in this picture really restricted my view when I was checking the cake while it was baking.)

8. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 50-60 minutes or until set. Use a toothpick to check if it comes out clean. Using something to prop the oven door open (like a wooden spoon), turn the oven off and crack the oven door open just a tiny bit for about 10 minutes. This will cool the oven down SLOWLY and hopefully prevent your cheesecake from shrinking too much. Do not leave it too long or your cheesecake will start to get soggy on the bottom!

9. Let cheesecake cool completely and store in fridge. 

THE RESULTS:

• Fluffy, soft and VERY subtly sweet. This was perfect for my family since we don't want anything too sweet. I think this is perfect because you can adjust the sweetness with toppings. I tried three different types of toppings to allow my family some variety but the best one was just plain, old whipped cream. You can sweeten this one more if you want the cake to taste sweeter.

Chicken Curry like Mama did...sorta

So my mom always used those curry boxes you find at Asian markets but her trick was, she likes to use two or three different brands and combine them. I only had one kind so I wasn't able to do it but I had a hankering for some curry. Ma's curry takes longer than mine because she chops up chicken and cooks it in the curry so I'm making a chicken katsu curry. It's more prep but cooks very quickly.

Chicken Katsu Curry

I forgot to add the carrots in the photo...

Curry Ingredients:

• box of curry flavoring (try to get two-three versions)
• potatoes
• onion
• garlic
• carrots
• broth

Chicken Katsu Ingredients:

• Chicken breast
• flour
• egg
• panko

The amounts are going to depend on how much you want to make. I am only cooking for 2 people and I don't want much leftovers so I only got 1 baking potato, 1 onion, a couple cloves of garlic, and a handful of carrots. This amount made a very chunky curry sauce which I like. So if you like a thinner sauce, then don't put as much vegetables in or make a bigger pot with less vegetables.

1. Start by doing all the prep work. Cut the potatoes into the same size so it'll cook evenly. If you are in a rush, cut them into smaller cubes so that they'll cook faster. Cut carrots into similar size or smaller than potatoes (since they don't cook as fast).
   
2. If you want rice with it, then start cooking some rice now.
3. Pick an appropriate sized pot for how much curry you want to make.
4. Cook garlic in some oil until aromatic
5. Add onions and cook until tender
   
6. Add carrots and potatoes and then fill with water or use broth for more flavor. If you want a chunkier sauce like me, just fill to the top of the vegetables. If you want a thinner sauce, fill the liquid higher.
   
7. Bring to a boil and then simmer until vegetables are fork tender. If the liquid gets low, just fill with more water or broth.
8. While you're waiting for this, pound the chicken breast flat. Just look for the thinnest part of the chicken breast and pound the rest to match. I find thin sliced chicken breast is the easiest for katsu. You don't need to do much but you still want to pound it out to make it even. This ensures an even cook.
   
9. Dip the flat chicken breast into the flour, egg wash, then panko crust.
   
10. Fry until golden brown. 
1. The oil should be around 350F. If you don't have a frying thermometer, test it out by throwing a couple pieces of panko in there. It should bubble strongly. If you throw in your chicken and it sinks and only slightly bubbles, then the oil is not hot enough. If your oil is not hot enough, it will take longer to cook... meaning your panko will soak in more oil and it will taste/feel greasy.
2. If you are using a large pot for frying, throwing lots of pieces in can cause your oil temperature to drop too quickly. Don't overcrowd and don't throw too many pieces in at once.
3. Use a strainer and scoop out the remaining panko crust after each one. This will keep your oil clean. If you leave the bits in... they will overcook, burn and turn your oil brown and leave a burnt taste to your food. Your oil turning brown/black will also trick you into thinking you are done because it will get you to that golden brown faster. 
4. If you're worried about if it's done, then cut one and check that the juices are clear and the meat is white. If you pounded them out thinly and evenly, it should only be a couple of minutes on each side.
   
11. Place fried katsu onto paper towels over a cookie drying rack. (I like to also line the bottom with foil for easy cleanup.) This will help soak the oil away from the katsu, keep it crispy and not so oily.
    
12. When the vegetables are tender, add cubes of the curry flavor a little at a time. Stir to make sure it's completely dissolved. Once it dissolves, it will thicken your sauce. I usually like to do a Mild and Medium combo but today I only had a mild.
    
13. Taste and adjust. If it's not enough curry, then add more. If you like your curry runnier, then add more broth.
    
14. Place rice, curry sauce, then cut up katsu on top and enjoy!

    

    I actually topped with curry but it made my katsu soggy. So I would say place the katsu on top of the sauce to keep it nice and crispy.

Try the World - Japan Box

Today I tried some of the "Try the World" Japan box. Try the World is a subscription where you receive a box of items every 2 months in order to experience new cuisine from different cultures. I had thought that you just eat the things out of the box but apparently you have to do stuff with these items. I felt like this was more fun and adventurous (if you never had the cuisine before).

Most of the items of the Japan box were very predictable and easily accessibly to me so that was a bit disappointing. But that was to be expected since I love Japan and have gone before.

I was excited about the okonomiyaki kit though. Okonomiyaki is like a savory pancake where you can add whatever you want. I was excited to try this because I was too intimidated to try to order one when we were Japan so this will be my first okonomiyaki experience.

For today's meal, I went with okonomiyaki and soba. The left side is the items I used today and the right side is all the things I needed to buy.

First was the okonomiyaki. I ran to Mitsuwa, a Japanese grocery store, to search for this sauce. From Google Translate, it just translated Otafuku Your Favorite Sauce. Ok... what the heck does that mean?! I googled Otafuku and realized that this was just a brand name. Lol! Luckily, Mitsuwa did have this brand and I grabbed the one that said, "Okonomiyaki Sauce". So if you don't find this brand, look for anything that might be an okonomiyaki sauce!

I cut some cabbage and green onions and layered one side with bacon. Although I didn't have anything to compare this to, I thought it was pretty yummy!

I've had soba numerous times so this was no surprise. I also got the soba sauce at Mitsuwa.

End result: A bit predictable but it was really fun to experiment. It's easy for me to find Japanese items but I'm worried that it won't be so easy for me to find other cultural items. Hopefully the other boxes will not require such specific items.

Honeydew Sorbet

When Ben and I first started dated, he took me on an Alaskan cruise. Once, in the dining room, they served the most delicious honeydew sorbet that we've ever had. Well, to be honest, it was probably the only time we ever had honeydew sorbet. It's lasted in our memories and we always try to find someone who serves honeydew sorbet but we never have.

I looked it up and it seems so easy to make so I gave it a shot.

All you do is...

1. Cut up ripe honeydew
2. Puree the honeydew in a food processor
3. Strain the juice
4. Sweeten (almost to the point of too sweet because it will mellow out) and freeze. 
5. Pour juice into a container to freeze
6. Once frozen, chop it up and puree it again to get that sorbet consistency. I used a food processor for this part but I think it might be better to use a blender this time. It came out fine but took a while because the chunks of ice were hard to break down.
   
7. Put it back in the freezer for a little bit before serving because it will have melted slightly while you were pureeing it (about an hour is fine).
8. Scoop up and eat!
   
9. If you leave it in the freezer for a while, it'll get hard again so you'll have to puree it again. Or you can be like Ben and just scrape it.
   

My first attempt, I found a recipe that suggested using honey to sweeten it so I did. I did not enjoy the lingering and prominent honey taste so next time, I will try some rock sugar and water.

The results were delicious (except for the lingering honey flavor)). If you're like me,  you don't eat an entire tub full at once so one melon actually goes a long way.

After a couple of days, we didn't taste the honey anymore. I wonder if it mellows out even more after a couple of days?

Japanese Cheesecake Attempt #2

So I tried the recipe again except some minor tweaks.

Ingredients:

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. unsalted butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour 1 oz. cake flour
20g/1 oz. cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Just like last time, use a double boiler to melt cream cheese, butter and milk.

Fold in flour, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until soft peaks.

Fold in cream cheese mixture in batches.

This time, I messed up the instructions. I folded 1/3 of the cheese mixture into the egg white meringue (instead of the other way around). This may or may not have messed things up. I'm not sure. I can see how it might since the cheese mixture is heavy and may have weighed down my meringue when I poured it in. I did notice that the bottom of my mixture wasn't well incorporated when I was pouring my batter out.

I liked the top before so I experimented with different molds and making the cake a little shorter.
I sprayed four of these with PAM and 2 without. The 2 without broke and didn't pop out. The four sprayed ones popped out just fine.

THE RESULTS:

• I got greedy with too many variations. The cake was not as fluffy but I'm not sure if that's because I left out half of the cake flour or because I tried new molds and it wasn't as tall/thick.
• I tried eating some right after baking/cooling and the lemon juice was VERY prominent. I did not like that. The next day (after fridge overnight), I tried it again and it had mellowed out. I think I still prefer it without lemon juice though.
• My crust on top wasn't as sweet and crunchy as last time. I wasn't sure how long to bake it because I reduced the sizes and shapes so I may have undercooked it this time.

too soft. would fall apart when picking up.

was too lemony when fresh baked

ADJUSTMENTS FOR NEXT TIME:

• Adjust cake flour to 1.5 oz
• Try to make some Japanese cheesecake "cookies" (since I love the burnt parts)
• Do the mixing correctly
• leave out the lemon juice (or half it)