Ready for something that is both a traditional Japanese recipe and a fun dessert that will delight the whole family? Then let’s make a creamy delicious purin, one of the favorite desserts of Japanese children and adults. It’s also pretty easy to make it from scratch since all of the ingredients are usually already right there in your kitchen. Just check out our recipe and you will have one of the most deliciouspu Japanese sweet in no time!
What Is Purin?
Purin literally means “pudding,” but it is not quite the same as the soft pudding styles found in the U.S. and Europe. Japanese purin is actually closer to Mexican-style flan, or a custard, as it uses gelatin to solidify the pudding and then uses a caramel topping to add another flavor and texture. It has many many different varieties in Japan, including chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, edamame (check out our great recipe for an edamame maple purin), milk, green tea, pumpkin, tofu and just about anything else you can imagine.
Three Basic Styles
Besides all the different flavor, there are three distinct cooking styles as well. Each one of these produces a different product with its own consistency and texture. Here is a rough guide to these three different kinds of purin:
Yaki Purin (baked purin): It is made right in the oven and allows you to get a great crispy consistency on the caramel topping that is much like crème brûlée. Literally meaning “baked cream” in Japanese, it’s a popular dessert in finer restaurants in Japan. You can enjoy this kind cold or at room temperature after a meal.
Mushi Purin (steamed purin): This is a kind of specialty item in Japanese food culture. You can cook this type in a steamer until it gains the perfect texture. In some parts of Japan, mushi purin is made by steaming it in the heat and vapors of natural hot springs, which is called jigoku mushi purin (Hell Steamed Purin!).
Regular: Regular kind, however, is made in a regular pot right in the comfort of your own home. This is the one that we are presenting you with here today. The recipe is very easy to follow so that anyone can make a purin in a simple kitchen by themselves. Please take a look at our cooking tips, designed to help you get it just right!
Cooking Tips:
- If you want your purin to be a bit harder and more solid, just increase the amount of gelatin used in the recipe.
- Refrigerate them to help it solidify; they should last in the fridge for about two days.
Creamy Purin
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp Powdered Gelatin
- 2 Eggs
- 3 Egg Yolks
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 ½ cup Milk
- ½ cup Fresh Cream
- ½ Vanilla Bean (optional)
Caramel Sauce
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Water
- ¼ cup Warm Water
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the gelatin powder and water and mix lightly.
- In a small pot, add the milk and sugar.
- Cut open vanilla bean and scrape the vanilla bean caviar from the bean pod. Add them to the pot and heat.
- Heat right before it starts to boil and stop the heat. Add the gelatin making sure to scrape all of it, and melt.
- Add the fresh cream and mix well.
- In a medium bowl, add the two whole eggs and 3 egg yolks. Whisk it together.
- Add the ingredients in the pot into the bowl and mix well. Strain once to make it smoother.
- Place ice water in a bigger bowl. Place the medium bowl with egg mixture on top and whisk continuously to cool the mixture down.
- Once the mixture has slightly thickened, pour into containers and cool in the fridge.
In the meantime make caramel sauce. Add sugar and 1 teaspoon of water in a pot and heat on low heat.
Once it begins to brown, slowly sway the pot for around 1 minute until it becomes caramel color.
Stop the heat and add warm water until caramel melts. Then cool.
Add the caramel sauce onto the purin. Enjoy!
