Esther’s Japanese Sweet Potato Creme Brulee

Esther Choi’s take on viral Japanese Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée is inspired by the popular pairing of sweet potato and kimchi in Korea! 🍠

Get the recipe:

Japanese Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée
Recipe courtesy of Esther Choi
Level: Intermediate
Total: 1 hr 30 min
Active: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 Japanese sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped well
4 teaspoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Special equipment: a kitchen torch

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil and place on a small sheet pan. Bake until softened, about 1 hour. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small nonstick pan over high heat. Add the kimchi and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Cook until the kimchi caramelizes, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Combine the egg yolks, cornstarch and remaining 3 teaspoons sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk until fully combined with no lumps. Add the cream and whisk again until fully combined. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until thick and velvety, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps from the custard.

Place the sweet potatoes on a plate. Cut an oval shape off of the top of each one. Scoop out half of the flesh of each sweet potato. Press the removed flesh through a sieve and into the bowl with the custard. Whisk to combine.

To assemble, spoon half of the kimchi into each potato and fill the rest with custard (see Cook’s Note). Sprinkle the custard with sugar (you’ll probably use about 1 tablespoon sugar for each sweet potato to make a good crust). Hold a kitchen torch above each sweet potato and move the flame to caramelize the sugar. Enjoy!

Cook’s Note
If you have any leftover custard you can pour it into a ramekin, sprinkle it with sugar, caramelize it with a torch and enjoy!

Categories: Food

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