Thai Tea Creme Brulee

There are three components: the Thai tea creme brulee (recipe almost the same as Hot Thai Kitchen [changed water and sugar amounts]), a black sesame paste, and coconut and pandan caviar and jellies.

1. Thai Tea Creme Brulee: 4 or 5 small ramekin servings

• 240 g heavy cream
• 50 g water
• 120 g evaporated milk
• 40 g Thai tea leaves
• 80 g sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks (~72 g)
• 12.5 g granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• a few grams sugar to brulee

1. Oven to 325 F.
2. In a pot on medium heat, bring whipping cream, water, and evaporated to a boil. Turn off heat, add Thai tea leaves and stir, and let steep for 5 minutes.
3. In a bowl, whisk sugar, salt, and egg yolks until smooth. Whisk in condensed milk.
4. Using a fine strainer, slowly add the Thai tea mixture over the yolk/ condensed milk. Whisk constantly.
5. Strain again and then add into ramekins. It is better to err on the side of shallow vs filling up to the top. Quickly get rid of big bubbles by torching the tops.
6. Put ramekins onto a sheet pan and then add hot water to fill the pan to about half the height of the ramekin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Tap the sides of the ramekins and if it jiggles a lot, it definitely isn’t done. But if it only jiggles a little like jello, it is probably fine.
8. Let cool a little at room temp, then transfer to the fridge. You want them to be completely chilled before bruleeing.
9. I use a round cutter to take the custard out of the ramekin but that doesn’t matter. Add a few grams to the top and spread evenly. Torch slowly until it bubbles and browns a bit.

2. Black Sesame Paste:

• 15 g black sesame seeds
• 2 g sugar
• 40 g heavy cream
• 1-5ish g water

1. Grind the seeds to fine pieces with a food processor. Add to a pot with cream and sugar.
2. Stirring constantly, reduce the mixture down until little cream remains and it is a thick consistency.
3. Add in water a few g at a time and stir until you like the consistency. FYI, attempting to sieve at this point will release lots of oil. If you processed them well enough, the texture should be fine without needing to sieve.

3. Coconut or Pandan Caviar/ Jellies:

• a small cup of oil, refrigerated
• Coconut
  • 50 g coconut milk
  • 50 g water
  • 1 g agar (or whatever setting agent you have)
  • 10 g sugar
• Pandan
  • 1 g pandan paste
  • 100 g water
  • 10 g sugar
  • 1 g agar

1. Put the oil in the fridge immediately. Or freezer. You want it really really cold.
2. Add water, sugar, and either coconut milk or pandan paste into a small microwaveable bowl and stir well. I added some white food coloring to the coconut as well. Add the agar powder, stir, and heat up until the agar dissolves. Microwaving for a minute works fine.
3. Let cool slightly and then transfer 1/3 of the mixture into something that makes droplets. I have a syringe, but you can really use anything that has a nozzle.
4. Slowly drop the agar mixture droplets into the cup of cold oil. They should start to fall down and resemble a lava lamp and settle on the bottom.
5. Take the oil + caviar (gel spheres) and strain [I use a fine mesh tea strainer]. Rinse with some water for about 20 seconds to get rid of the oil.
6. With the other 2/3 of the mixture, pour out onto some cling wrap lining a small pan or container. Let cool (fridge speeds this up) and then you can slice into cubes once it solidifies.

This flavor combo tastes so good together. Enjoy!
-Mario