Japanese Cheesecake

There was a time when I devoured cheesecakes. I ate them so much, it began to show on my person. My waistline grew and my clothes needed to be altered. I am serious; ok maybe a little exaggeration. But I was obsessed. I think it was sometime in the late 1980s. A new cheese cake shop opened in town - I think it was actually called The Cheesecake Shop - and I was introduced to a whole array of flavours to my favourite cake. There was chocolate, chocolate marble, Oreo ... oh my. It was heavenly. I used to visit the shop on my way back from school (I was in the sixth form and took the public bus home. The Cheesecake Shop was a slight detour but, hey, I felt I earned a slice every now and then).

That was a long time ago and it's been a while since I craved cheesecake like that. In fact, it has been a while since I've eaten any cheesecake at all.

Truth be told, I may have gone off cheesecakes. If I could eat a whole slice by myself in a split second before (ok, who am I kidding ... I could eat two slices, easily), I now can't even take a bite before feeling like I've had too much.

So, it was mighty strange that I woke up this morning with an urge to make .... cheesecake. 



Go figure, right? So, yeah, I wanted to make a cheesecake but I didn't want to make a creamy cake that sat on a biscuit crumb. I wanted something lighter, something more cakey and not too rich. I was about to give up and make something completely different (like a quiche or a crepe -- yes, my thoughts are always so random) when I remembered a Japanese cheesecake I'd eaten a long while ago (like five years ago) that I really liked. Yes! Perfect!

The Japanese Cheese Cakes (I'm not quite sure if it really does originate in Japan; I have never eaten one there either of the times I'd been there) are light and soft and have a more subtle (though not at all insipid) taste of cheese. The cake isn't overly sweet and there is no crust, so put away our digestive biscuits!

The cake also comes unadorned. There are also no toppings (no strawberries on top, no Oreo cookies in he middle ...) and though I have tasted a matcha-flavoured one before, I prefer the authentic, unflavoured Japanese Cheesecake the best.

 
Some compare the texture of this cake to flan, a souffle or a chiffon cake but, truth be told it's also almost like eating a slice of brie (although no brie is used; only cream cheese). The texture is the result of the emulsification of corn starch and eggs in the recipe -- this is what I've read. I figure it also has to do with the whipped egg whites (six, mind you) that are gently folded into the batter.

I don't know the science of it ... yet ... but I like the result. This cake is light, cheesy, not too sweet and oh-so-comforting. I am pleased that this is one cheesecake I am still fond of.

Japanese Cheesecake
(from thelittleteochew)
Ingredients
140g Castor sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
250g cream cheese
50g butter
100ml milk
1/4 tsp salt
60g cake flour
20g corn flour

1. Melt the butter, cream cheese and milk by combining them in a bowl and placing the bowl atop a pot of boiling water. Do not allow the bowl to actually touch the water. Stir until the cheese and butter melts. Set aside and allow to cool.

2. Sieve the flours and add the salt and whisk together.

3. Preheat the oven to 160C. Line a 24cm spring form pan with parchment paper.

4. When the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg yolks and flours and stir to mix.

5. Beat the eggs whites and the cream of tartar using the whisk attachment of your mixer until the eggs get frothy. Add the sugar and whisk on high speed till soft peaks form.

6. Fold in the whited to the batter, gently but well.

7. Pour batter into lined pan.

8. Fill two ramekins with hot water and place them diagonally in the bottom tray of your oven (below the rack where your cake is going to sit). Put in the cake and bake for 70 mins.

9. When the cake is done, turn off the oven and let the cake cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 30 mins before removing the cake. This helps prevent the top from cracking.

I believe in Seitan

I have been a vegetarian for about 21 years. That's quite a while — practically half my life — and I cannot believe that in all that time, I have never made seitan before. I've never even thought to make it at home. I remember my sister making seitan once, about 20 years ago, when she was experimenting with vegetarian Chinese cooking and made us all a pot full of vegetarian Bah Kut Teh. The seitan was nice and chewy and absorbed all the flavours of the broth very well. It was tasty and I don't know why I didn't ever ask her how she made the dish.

Then last month, when Jane (the kitchen wench behind thewaywardoven) announced excitedly that she'd made seitan, I was all over her. I wanted to know more and I (almost) immediately went out to buy myself some wheat gluten powder to make my own seitan. 

What is seitan? 

Well, first of all, it's pronounced SEY-TAN (as in sun TAN). Seitan is wheat gluten or protein: pure protein from wheat once all the starch has been washed out of it. It's really protein-rich, perfect for vegetarians, especially if you're experiencing tofu-fatigue. Let's face it, we vegetarians eat a whole lot of tofu and even though I like tofu, I sometimes feel I need a break from the bean curd. 

Of course, seitan isn't for everyone: if you've got a gluten allergy/intolerance (celiac disease), you want to stay far away from seitan.

The picture above doesn't look remotely appetising, I'll admit. In fact, it looks like a well-worn sponge doesn't it? Well, that's half right, in a way. Seitan is like a sponge in that it absorbs flavours extremely easily. If you think its amazing that a bland block of tofu can absorb flavours, you're gonna go wild playing with seitam. From the way it's made to how it's used in a dish, you have the opportunity to make taste like anything you wish because it can take on any flavour you want. Jane made vegetarian char-siew (barbecued pork) with her seitan and she raved about how good it was. She didn't let me taste any (I assume she gobbled it up) but I believe her especially since she isn't a vegetarian and could have easily eaten actual meat dish.

So back to the picture above. This is seitan in its initial stage of being: I mixed the wheat gluten (Which you can buy at baking supply stores and some organic shops) with sesame oil, water and my choice of seasoning: curry powder, cumin, caraway seeds, onion and garlic powder, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and salt. (You can choose your own seasoning; I know I will be experimenting with different herbs and spices my next time).

Once mixed, the gluten comes together to form a spongy dough which you need to knead for a bit to give it some elasticity. This also helps massage the flavour into the gluten better.

Once done, it is rested for a bit, cut into piece and drowned in stock: you cook the chunks of gluten dough in a full-bodied vegetable stock for about 40 mins. The result is what you see below.

The pieces on the left are the seitan. The ones on the right are my store-bought mock chicken made from soy protein. The seitan is slightly more chewy; it is dark because of the seasonings (namely the soy sauce and chilli and cumin powders).

 I made a dry seitan curry, replicating the recipe for a chicken curry (without the chicken but with seitan). The result? The seitan in the curry was so juicy and flavourful — and the texture, nice and chewy.  

Will I be making seitan more often? For sure!

Seitan

1 cup wheat gluten powder
1 tsp sesame oil
3/4 cup broth/water
*1/4 tsp ginger powder
*1/2 tsp onion powder
*1/2 tsp garlic powder
*1/2 tsp caraway seeds
*1/4 tsp curry powder
*1 tsp nutritional yeast
*1 tsp soy sauce

4 cups broth (to cook the seitan in)

*seasonings are all optional and can be substituted

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the broth + soy sauce + sesame oil. Mix together quickly, using your hands. It's amazing how quickly the wheat gluten absorbs the liquids to form a spongy dough. Knead for about a minute or two and then shape it into a square/rectangle (or round, depending what you want to use the seitan for) and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes then cut into pieces/cubes.

Meanwhile, put a pot of stock to boil. I had some bottled stock in the fridge so I just heated it up. Once boiling, add the seitan cubes and reduce heat to low. Leave to simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.
The stock would have reduced considerably — absorbed into the seitan. Yes, the pieces expand in the process, so you might want to take this into consideration when cutting them! Once cooked, remove from heat and strain the seitan.

That's it. The seitan is cooked and ready for use. The stock can be used for making soups/curries/or in your seitan dish, whatever you choose to make with it.

Beet Burgers

It's Mother's Day tomorrow and though I'm not one for large-scale celebrations of  intimate moments, I like this particular celebration because I think mothers can never be celebrated enough. 

So this post is dedicated to my mother. Mum, you were right. Beetroot is lovely. 

I really never thought I'd say this. If you had asked me a year ago whether I'd like to eat beetroot, I would have pretended to gag so hard you'd be sorry you asked. But today? Today I sheepishly admit that I love beetroot.

My mother used to get really annoyed with me because I used to (and still do) proclaim how much I hated some vegetable (or meat when I used to eat meat) or other without even giving it a fair shot. I dismissed eggplant as being yucky simply because I hated the mushy texture of the cooked vegetable; I retreated when my mother offered me a slice of fried tempeh because it looked ... well, it looked quite strange. 

The turning point was an appetizer of roasted beetroot with goats cheese which I ate at some restaurant in London last year when I was there on a work trip. The good thing about work trips? We always eat well. Well, almost always. I was skeptical when I ordered the dish. I had little choice as it was one of the few vegetarian dishes on the menu and I wanted something light. The only other option was a couple of pasta dishes which I wasn't to keen on.

When my plate came, I cut a small piece of the beetroot (it looked so beautiful, the deep crimson of the beets against the white of the cheese and the green basil leaves in between ... awesome) and hesitantly bit into it.

It was love at first bite. I couldn't believe it. It was sweet and tasted like caramel and together with the creamy and slightly salty cheese, it was heaven.

I was turned and have been cooking with beetroot since and these beetroot burgers are a testament to that.

Beet isn't the only ingredient in these patties, but it is the star. I actually used beetroot in a patty for the first time when I was doing a story about vegetarian burgers for my column in Star2. I used beetroot because I wanted my patties to have the pink colour of a hamburger. NOT because I was craving meat but just for fun. But when I tasted the burger, I was amazed at how much of an impact the beetroot had in terms of flavour and texture. Encouraged, I tried different combinations (the first was beet + mock meat + broccoli), preferably a patty with just vegetables and no mock meats or tofu. And each time, the patty turned out well because (I am convinced, being the beetroot lover that I am now) of the crimson veg.

For the recipes, apart from the beetroot, everything else was an experiment so you can really add and subtract any of the vegetables that I have included. The important elements are the binders (I used breadcrumbs) and one ingredient that can bulk up your patty -- I used edamame in one instance, mock meat in another and potato in the third. Of all three, I liked the potato patty the least and will next time for for some other bean instead.


Beet Burgers
1 cup beetroot, diced very small
1 onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1/2 cup roasted broccoli, chopped small (optional)
1/2 cup edamame/any other bean, pureed
1/2 cup roasted cauliflower, chopped
1/4 cup red pepper, diced small
a handful of toasted nuts, chopped fine (optional)
parsley, chopped fine
 breadcrumbs (enough to bind the patty together)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper (or any other seasoning you prefer)
Chilli flakes/powder (optional)
1/3 cup cheese

Mix all the ingredients together to form patties.
Chill for 30 mins so the patties harden a little. Heat some Olive oil in a skillet and brown the patties on both sides, about 3 -5 mins each side and then pop then in the oven (200C) for 30 mins or till they're firm and are cooked through.

Homemade Jam and Tarts

As a child, I loved, loved, loved jam tarts. Mum didn't make them but once in a while, she'd buy a dozen or so from English Hotbreads, our go-to bakery for birthday cakes and tea time snacks. They sold the most delicious pineapple jam tarts I'd ever tasted and I could wolf down three or four jumbo tarts at one go. Yeah! I'd finish them so quick m mum had to ration the tarts: four each for the three of us kids. Sometimes, I'd steal one (or two) of my sister's share: she wasn't as greedy as me and more generous.

I still love tarts. The combination of tasty, crispy pastry against a sweet, gooey, jam filling is just soooo good. Though I love the pineapple tarts Malaysians have become quite renowned for (I've come to think our Nyonya tarts are among the best in the world), I also like other fruit-jam tarts too. Strawberry, lemon-curd, apple ... comfort food, for sure.

So when I read Dan Lepard's recent post on jam tarts in the Guardian, I was inspired to make some of my own. Lepard uses leftover jam for his tarts but as I don't usually store much jam at home, I had to make my own jam instead. My two favourite jam flavours are apple and strawberry and wouldn't you know it, I had both fruits at home. What luck!

Making jam is really quite simple; definitely easier than it sounds. You dice your fruit and cook it in a little water and some sugar (depending on how sweet your fruit is and how sweet you want your jam) and just let it cook until the fruit softens and the mixture thickens. You can add some corn flour (or pectin) to help thicken the mixture too.

That's a basic recipe/method for jam but you can also add to your flavours by combining ingredients (strawberry and raspberry, apple and citrus...) in a jam compound or you could spice up your jam with ... well, spice. I added some roughly crushed pink peppercorns into my strawberry jam and cinnamon into my apple jam.

I used Lepard's recipe for the crust which I must say produced the best tart crust I have ever made or maybe even tasted. I had to adjust the measurements a little -- a little less water and a little more flour. The pastry was soft but sturdy enough not to crumble en route to your mouth. It has a small measure of icing sugar in it but it's not at all sweet; there is a great balance between the sweetness of the sugar and the saltiness of the butter and the added salt. It was the perfect casing for my mini tarts so, "Thank you, Mr Lepard".

Strawberry and Apple Tarts

For the pastry recipe, refer to Dan Lepard's post in the Guardian.Here's the link.

Strawberry Jam 

24 strawberries, hulled and diced 

1/4 cup sugar (adjust according to taste)

1/2 cup water 

1-2 tsp pink peppercorns, roughly crushed

1 tsp cornflour, diluted in 1 tbsp water 

Put the strawberries, sugar, water and peppercorns in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. As the mixture begins to boil, cover and leave to simmer, continue to stir from time to time, until the strawberries get really soft and mushy. Using a wooden spoon or a potato masher, roughly mash the softened fruit (you may want to leave some chunky pieces in for texture). Taste for sweetness (add more sugar if you want) and then, just before you're ready to take it off the heat, add the cornflour and stir until the jam thickens. 

Remove and allow to cool.

Apple Jam

2 large apples, skinned, cored and diced

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar (approximate, to taste)

1/2 cup water

Add all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook until the apples soften and can be mashed. Keep stirring until the jam thickens.

Edamame, Broccoli and Cream Cheese Sandwich

Is edamame (young/green soy beans) really the secret of Victoria Beckham's enviably stick thin figure? Well, some years ago, the former Spice Girl revealed that her edamame-rich diet kept her slim. She let herself cheat on a single cupcake once in a while but mainly, she feasted on edamame, strawberries and lettuce. 

No, I am not about to go on the Posh diet quite yet but I must say she chose a delicious and extremely nutritious vegetable as her staple. Known as the "magic bean", edamame is rich in amino acids and is a protein source. It's also high in fibre, rich in vitamin C and folic acid and is known to lower your cholesterol. 

Most importantly, the young beans are delicious: nutty and sweet. I love edamame. The Japanese consume a lot of edamame: boiled and seasoned lightly with salt, the beans are a great accompaniment to beer or sake and a delicious appetizer before a meal of sushi.

It also makes for a delicious dip, a great base for vegetarian burger patties (keep and eye out for my next post) and a fantastic sandwich filling. 

Edamame forms the base of this sandwich filling.

Step one: Boil about a cup of beans for ten minutes or so. Remove the beans from their pods and roughly mashed them.  Season with salt, black pepper and finely chopped garlic. Next, mix in 3 tbsp of cream cheese and 1/4 cup grated carrots to the bean mash. What you get it is a thick spread. At this point, with a couple of drops of lemon juice, you could it  into a dip too but I'd suggest you try it in a sandwich first. I spread a thick layer of the bean mash (make sure you leave some half bean chunks in, for some bite) on the base of my sandwich.

That was step one. Oh, I forgot to mention, step zero is to get good bread. Good, sturdy bread that won't dissolve once you load it with filling. I used the Zucchini and Cheese Loaf I made yesterday.

Step two: The next step is adding texture to the sandwich. No one really likes a completely mushy sandwich, right? I like a little crunch too and so, instead of lettuce, I added roasted 1/2 cup of broccoli florets — just toss the broccoli florets in olive oil and roast them for about 15 to 20 minutes and season with salt and pepper — on top of the edamame spread. Have you tried roasted broccoli? It's really fantastic.


Next comes the cheese layer.

Grilled cheese sandwiches have a huge appeal for me. I toasted my bread and then added a generous layer of  mozzarella on the top slice of bread and popped it under the grill for a few minutes for it to melt.

At the same time, I toasted a few walnuts (you could use almonds or cashews), chopped them fine and sprinkled them over the broccoli.

When the cheese has melted, press the top layer over the sandwich and you're good to go!