No-mess chocolate truffles

I still find sous vide circulator to be an amazing part of one's cooking arsenal. In particular, nothing touches short ribs or pork belly cooked for 3 days or so. It is also beyond amazing to be able to make perfect onsen eggs right at home, definitely much more convenient than to travel to Japan.

Recently I discovered another use of sous vide circulator: Making chocolate truffles. I used to make them regularly and it was always a messy affair, with tasty results. Using sous vide to melt and temper chocolate adds precision to the process while reducing the effort significantly. Furthermore, piping truffles from a plastic bag really speeds up the preparation and eliminates lots of mess.

These truffles were likely the best I have ever made. I used sour cream instead of the more standard heavy cream, and for flavoring I used a splash of Kahlua. Options of course, are unlimited. For chocolate, I opted for 54% Hageland chocolate, not going for my usual go-to 70% chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 300g chocolate. I prefer dark to extra dark - 54% to 70%.
• Chop the chocolate roughly so that it melts more easily.
• 1/2 cup sour cream. Heavy whipping cream is a more standard option and one could certainly use it.
• A pinch of salt.
• 1/4 cup, approximately, Kahlua. 
• It is good to add additional flavorings. Other options are rum, strong coffee, Grand Mariner, Bailey's, any liquer really.
• One can also experiment with a pinch or two of chilly powder.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa for coating the truffles
• One can also use finely chopped nuts. 

Method:

• Prepare a water bath and a sous vide circulator, set it to 115F.
• Add all of the wet ingredients into a ziplock bag. Save cocoa powder or nuts for later. 
• Using water displacement method, submerge the ziplock bag into the water and secure the bag to the pot.
• After the water comes to the temperature, keep the bag at the temperature for about 15 minutes, mixing it up at least once in between. Feel that all the chocolate has melted, otherwise wait some more time.
• When the chocolate is melted, make sure all the ingredients are mixed well.
• Set the sous-vide circulator to 81F and add ice to the water bath to drop the water temperature.
• Wait for another 15 minutes, mixing in the middle, so that the ganache cools down. 
• If ganache is too liquid for piping, wait a bit longer, or cool sous vide down for another few degrees.
• You can put the bag in the fridge for a minute or so, but be careful that it does not develop solid bits. I prefer waiting.
• On a counter or baking sheet, lay down a sheet or parchment, or use a silicone liner.
• Dust the parchment paper well with cocoa powder, using a fine sieve.
• Push all the ganache towards the bottom of the bag to prepare for piping.
• Snip a corner of the bag.
• Pipe ganache into small mounds on the parchment. Do not worry about the shape, it will be corrected when you roll the truffles. 
• Dust truffles with some more cocoa powder. This is what it looked like for me.

• Roll the truffles in the extra cocoa powder to get the desired shape.
• Store the truffles in a container in a fridge.

• Share!!!

Onsen egg sous vide

I wish I had a picture that could capture the flavor. A perfect custardy egg in a dashi-mirin-soy sauce. Made at home, consistently. What else can one desire?

A sous vide circulator is in my opinion a perfect device for two things. One is slow cooking meat at low temperature for a long time. Short ribs, pork belly, shanks, any meat cut where gelatine comes in play. A pressure cooker does an amazing job in a fraction of time, but if one has the time and can plan ahead, nothing beats sous vide. The second amazing application is cooking eggs as described in the amazing record of an egg-cooking experiment done by the one and only J. Kenji López-Alt. I shamelessly use that article as my definite reference when it comes to eggs and sous-vide, and overall, his sous-vide explorations are a source of inspiration. If you have an Instant Pot with a sous vide setting, you can have onsen eggs for breakfast - set it up in the evening, on a timer, and enjoy in the morning. 

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• For kaeshi sauce:
• 4 parts of Soy sauce
• 1 part Mirin
• 1 part Sugar
• Dashi - remember a simple way to make dashi in a fridge
• Use between 10 to 3 parts of dashi per 1 part of kaeshi

Method:

• Cook eggs in a 145F degree water bath for 1.5 hours.
• Note: Use a mesh basket or a bowl to hold eggs in place. They may crack if they are pushed around by the flow of water. You can put eggs in the water immediately as you fill the pot, no need to wait for the water to come to temperature. You can also cook them for longer than 1.5h, I've definitely gone beyond 2h and it was OK.
• In a pot, mix mirin and soy sauce at the ratio of 4 parts of soy sauce to 1 part of mirin. Set aside one part of sugar.
• Note: Find a good soy sauce. It makes a big difference.
• Also measure dashi, you will need 10 parts of dashi to 1 part of soy-mirin mixture.
• Note, you can vary greatly how much dashi to use. It really depends on your mood an preferences. Serving eggs cold calls for a saltier mixture, I have heard of even 3:1 ration of dashi to kaeshi sauce, but that is too salty for me.
• Bring soy-mirin mixture to a boil to let alcohol evaporate.
• Dissolve sugar into soy-mirin mixture. You just made kaeshi sauce.
• Add dashi and warm up.
• One can debate whether you should boil the mixture. I sense no major difference in taste if I do, but purists or people with more sensitive palate may disagree.
• Crack an egg into a small helper bowl.
• Gently remove the egg with a spoon, leaving the non-solidified whites behind.
• Put the egg into a serving bowl, and carefully pour some sauce around the egg.
• Serve, eat, and be amazed.

These eggs are very versatile and don't have to be just served in dashi-soy sauce. One can use them in place of poached eggs, or for example in a shakshuka to avoid overcooking that can happen so easily.