Almost every major city and even town in the world has a Chinatown. Last year I visited Chinatown in New York. It runs through the East Village and the lower East Side and probably contains the largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia.
I was visiting NYC with my husband, Rohit last October. We stayed with my little sister and her very adorable husband. It was a great time to visit New York, just in time to catch the vibrant fall colours of fall, all around us. It was like living inside the Birch Forest I painting by my favourite artist, Gustav Klimt.
Chinatown is vibrant and densely populated. A great place to eat different regional Chinese and pan Asian cuisines plus an absolute delight to shop. I found so many rare ingredients for my business in the smallest and most unexpected corners. I took my husband to his first Malaysian restaurant LoveMama there, which was absolutely delicious with very authentic flavours. They served warm tea instead of water, though you could ask for some water if you like. We had our appetisers there: Chicken Satay and the Scallion Pancake. The last time I went to one so good was in London called Satay House.
Further on we walked around the area and ate our entree at this dingy little Cantonese Chinese restaurant right next to Keki modern cakes. My plan was to have some euphoric Malaysian food. Rohit, on the other hand, was interested in other things. For those who don’t know — he absolutely loves Japanese cheesecake. Keki modern cakes make the best Japanese cheesecake, close after Uncle Tetsu Japanese cheesecake. We went in and bought a cheesecake which we ate most of, standing outside the shop on the pavement itself, while we waited for our Uber to arrive. We barely saved any for my siblings. We just couldn’t wait!
Rohit made me try my first Japanese cheesecake from Spencers in Delhi. I was amazed at how delicious it was. He inspired me to search and test the perfect recipe until I got it absolutely right. The road to the perfect Japanese cheesecake was one paved with zen. I have unsuccessfully tried to make it in a haste, but this recipe has been built deeply in sync with the Japanese culture, commanding the time, great patience and grace for it to be cooked to perfection.
Here is a light and fluffy, Japanese Cheesecake recipe which will melt-in-your-mouth, a true combination of a creamy cheesecake and airy soufflé. A third serving is a guarantee!
Ingredients
- 60 grams Whole Milk / Full Milk
- 140 grams of Cream Cheese
- 40 grams Butter
- 50 grams Plain Flour
- 15 grams Corn Flour
- 5 Eggs
- 100 grams Fine Sugar
Instructions
- Oven Setting: Top and bottom heat elements without fan, please.
- Preheated Oven: 120°C
- In a small pot over medium heat, whisk together the butter, cream cheese, and milk until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then slowly drizzle in the cream cheese mixture, stirring until evenly combined.
- Sift in the flour and the cornstarch, whisking to make sure there are no lumps.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Fold about ¼ of the egg whites and into the yolk mixture, then repeat with the remaining egg whites until the batter is evenly combined.
- Grease the bottom of a cake pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. If using a springform pan, make sure to wrap the bottom and sides completely in foil twice to prevent any leakage.
- Pour the batter into the pan and shake to release any large air bubbles.
- Place the pan into a larger baking dish. Fill the larger pan about 1-inch (2-cm) high with hot water.
- (Baking Step 1) Baking Temperature: 120°C
- Baking Time: 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes, keep the oven door closed. Increase the temperature to 150°C and continue baking for 15 minutes.
- Baking Temperature: 150°C
- Baking Time: 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, open the oven door and open for 10 seconds and then close the back-up.
- Now lower the temperature to 100°C
- Baking Time: 40 minutes
- After 40 minutes, turn off the oven. Open the oven door and close back up. Let the cake cool down in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and carefully invert the cake onto your dominant hand and peel off the paper. Be extremely careful, the cake will be hot. You can also invert the cake onto a plate, though this will cause the cake to deflate more.
I promise you, one slice is never enough with this cheesecake!
If you like this recipe, tag @hearth_and_i and @warp_core on Instagram and share this webpage.
