s h i n s h i n e

Strawberry Sake Cake in Rice Cooker

It's been a while since I 'baked' anything in my rice cooker.  But seasons change, days get warm, then hot and humid, so the time has come again.

Unlike the big oven that heats up the whole apartment which is perfect in the wintertime, heat from the rice cooker is mostly contained within.  I find it the best way to churn out a simple sponge cake, with a variety of flavoring and topping to explore each time.

So here it comes - a cake batter mixed with sake, then topped with fresh strawberries macerated in sake syrup.  Just the kind of summer dessert I want and have already eaten too much of.  It's fresh, light, moist, sweet (but not cloyingly so) with a kick of sake flavor sans its alcohol content.

The base of it is a sponge cake flavored with sake, complemented with the subtle flavor and texture of crushed pine nuts.  From there, a simpler, a more 'straight-up' way is to macerate fresh strawberries in sake syrup, then pour the sake syrup on the cake to soak in every drop of the goodness and top the cake with 'drunk' strawberries (picture on top).  

If you want the look and feel of a more traditional strawberry cake with luscious cream frosting and moist cake with a hint of sake flavor in the back (pictures at the bottom of this post), then go through the trouble of whipping up some Greek yogurt frosting.  It is Greek yogurt lightened up with whipped cream that comes with the tang and the silky texture along with its sturdiness to stand shape for a while.  Even if you don't make the frosting this time, this may come handy for your next frosting occasion.

I've used both clear sake and nigori sake (unfiltered, cloudy kind) for this recipe and I'd go for any reasonably priced one.  Although both work in a similar way, I find the richness of nigori sake comes through a bit more in the cake.  Just make sure to shake well if you are using nigori sake.

Strawberry Sake Cake in Rice Cooker

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups            Sake

1 cup              All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon      Baking powder

4                     Eggs, whites and yolks separated
1/4 teaspoon    Salt 
1/2 cup            Sugar
1/3 cup            Any neutral tasting vegetable oil
                           plus a few drops to grease the rice cooker bowl
1/3 cup            Reduced sake (See Step1)

Optional) 1/3 cup Pine nuts, toasted

Sake syrup
1/3 cup             Reduced sake (See Step1)
1/3 cup             Sugar
1~2 cups          Fresh strawberries, tops removed and cut to slices or quarters

Greek yogurt frosting
1/2 cup             Plain Greek yogurt, 2% fat
1/2 cup             Heavy cream
2 tablespoons    Sugar
1 teaspoon        Vanilla extract

DIRECTiONS:

Sake Cake
1. Heat sake over low heat.  Don't let it boil, just always scalding hot while it's heated.  When sake is reduced to about 2/3 cup, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

2. Whisk together to mix flour and baking powder to mix.  Set aside.

3. Whisk egg whites.  When egg whites turn opaque white and foamy, add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk.  When sugar has been incorporated and the egg foam starts turning glossy and white, add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk.  Stop when the egg foam (i.e., meringue) is firm and silky-glossy.  When you lift the whisk, the tip of the egg meringue should gently fall, which is about soft-medium peak.

4. Add egg yolks and salt.  Whisk gently to incorporate, followed by oil then by reduced sake.  After each addition, whisk gently to incorporate in the egg mixture.

5. Add the dried ingredients - flour and baking powder - into the egg mixture.  With a wooden spoon, gently incorporate 1/2 of the flour into egg mixture first.  Add the rest and fold in gently just until there are no lumps of flour.  Do not overmix.

6. Optional) Crush the toasted pine nuts by running the pine nuts in a small plastic bag with a rolling pin.  Add to the batter and fold in to incorporate.

7. Pour the batter into the greased rice cooker bowl.  Tap the side of the bowl to release big air bubbles.  Place the bowl in the rice cooker.

8. Press 'Steam' for 40 minutes (or 'Multi-cook' or even better, 'Cake' setting depending on your rice cooker setting option).  Alternatively, 'Cook' twice, i.e., press 'Cook' and when it's done, press 'Cook' again.  You might have to wait for the rice cooker to cool a bit before starting the second run in case of an older, simpler rice cooker.

9. When it's done, flip gently on a wire rack.  Let it cool to room temperature.  If you can wait, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least a couple of hours to allow time to moisten and its flavors to settle before serving.

Sake Syrup Soaked Strawberry Topping
Cut off strawberry tops.  Cut strawberries as necessary, to slices or quarters for spreading a layer in the middle and keep some whole for the cake top.  Stir 1/3 cup of sugar in 1/3 cup of sake to dissolve sugar completely.  Carefully mix in strawberries and macerate for 30 minutes ~ 1 hour.  Strain and keep the strawberries and now strawberry-sake syrup separately.

Greek Yogurt Frosting (Optional)
1. Whisk 1/2 cup of heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy, silky-soft (about medium peak).  It will make about 1 cup of whipped cream.

2. Mix whipped cream with 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt by folding in gently with a wooden spoon.  You may increase the amount of yogurt by another 1/2 cup.  Set aside.

Assembly
No frosting (picture on top) - Drizzle the strawberry-soaked sake syrup all over the cake and top with strawberries.

With frosting (pictures below) - Once the cake is cooled to room temperature, cut the cake in half to create 2 layers.  Drizzle both layers with strawberry-soaked sake syrup.  On the bottom layer, spread 1/2 of the frosting then place strawberry slices.  Carefully place the remaining layer of the cake on top of the strawberry filling.  Spread the remaining half of the frosting and garnish with strawberries.

Any leftover should be stored in the refrigerator only for a couple of days.  The strawberries and cream mush will look sad with everyday its' in the refrigerator although it still tastes good.  I can only tell you it tastes fine up to 3 days.  It's usually gone by then. 

! TIPS !
! You can make the cake a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator.  Prepare the frosting cream and strawberries on the day of serving.

! Feel free to experiment with other seasonal fruits.  I haven't used other fruits for this recipe, but I'd cut up the fruits small enough to make it macerate the same way and easy to spread out on the cake.

 

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KOREAN WORDS
딸기    (ddal ghi)        strawberry
잣       (jat)                pine nut 

Pickled Garlic Scapes (마늘종 장아찌)

This is just a simple post of pickling garlic scapes with soy sauce and rice vinegar.  Pickling in Korea often means using soy sauce as a main pickling liquid.  The main vegetable getting pickled will do its part to make each pickle a special one, and it will last crunchy for a while... As for the pickled garlic scapes pictured above, it's been a week and they're crunchy and salty-sweet as ever.

Since I made only a small amount, barely 1 1/2 cups, it's more for the flavor than long preservation.  It doesn't veer much from my usual soy sauce-based pickles, with aromatic vegetables adding their natural sweetness and depth of flavors.  I find that adding onion slices help getting vegetable pickles naturally sweet without additional sugar.  Then of course, onion slices themselves become pickled too, with their own pleasant crunchiness.

If you want to make it last a little longer, strain the soy sauce liquid after a couple of days, boil it again, then pour it over on the garlic scapes that have already been pickled along with other vegetables.  This will help reduce the amount of water extracted from the vegetables in the initial pickling process and reintroduce the salty soy sauce pickling liquid to the vegetables.  I did it this time, but I don't think I'll have any left by the end of this week anyway.   

Pickled garlic scapes is one of the basic side dishes to accompany a bowl of rice for your anytime meal, but then again, it can also be that one bite that brightens up your meal, as a complement to a meat dish or an addition to your homemade bibimbap or kimbap.  The flavored soy sauce liquid is good for a dipping sauce, say, for savory pancakes (seafood scallion pancake anyone? See below for the link) or dumplings.

Once I have soy sauce and rice vinegar enough to immerse all the vegetable content, then I let my mood and vegetables in the fridge at the time take me to the next stage of pickling.

Soy Sauce-Pickled Garlic Scapes
(마늘종 장아찌 - ma neul jong jang ah jji)

Yields: 1 1/2 Cup

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup        Garlic scapes, ends-trimmed and cut to 2-inch length

1 cup              Soy sauce
1/4 cup           Rice vinegar
1/4 cup           Lukewarm water
1                    Dried shitake mushroom
1 piece           Dried kelp, about the size of 2 fingers
1/4                 Onion, medium-sized, peeled and cut to slices
3 cloves         Garlic, peeled and cut to slices
1 piece           Ginger, peeled and cut to slices

DIRECTIONS:
1. Soak dried shitake mushroom and dried kelp in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water until soft, about 10~20 minutes.  Set aside.

2. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, onion, garlic and ginger along with the soaked shitake, kelp and its soaking water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.

3. Pour over the garlic scapes.  Cool to room temperature.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

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KOREAN WORDS
봄        (bom)            spring
여름     (yeo reum)    summer 

Spicy-Tangy Garlic Scape Salad (마늘종 무침 - maneuljong muchim)

One of the vegetables I grew up with is garlic scapes.  My mom described it as an edible straw, like the slender tube for drinking liquid although it wasn't to be used for drinking any liquid.  It was a fun thing to eat, with its soft crunchy sound and just the 'coolness' factor of eating the straw itself.  But I didn't see it for years after moving to the states.

Then in the last few years, along with other vegetables such as ramps (명이 - myoung yi) and shishito peppers (꽈리고추 - ggwari gochu), garlic scapes started showing up everywhere, at least in farmers' markets in the city.  It seems that it's come to be recognized as one of the cool vegetables.  Although in my mind, it's always been the cool kid on the block.  Don't be scared off at the first whiff of its strong garlicky smell, which is good or bad depending on how much you like garlic.  Even the slightest cooking will bring out its naturally sweet flavor while the garlicky flavor moves aside still with a hint of its pungency.

The garlic scape season is pretty short in New York, for about a month in June as one of the sellers in the farmers' market tells me.  I have noticed some that remain tough regardless of cooking time, probably because it's nearing the end of its season.  Pesto seems to be a popular way of enjoying garlic scape which you can search for its recipes with the help of the internet.  But I'm here to help you navigate through simple Korean recipes, so I'll share a simple and flavorful garlic scape recipe that's very common in Korean homes.  If you happen to walk through a farmers' market this weekend, pick up garlic scapes.  Its price seems to vary, from $5/lb. to $10/lb., depending on whether it's organic or not, but sometimes I couldn't figure out a rationale behind it.  You can make this side dish to enjoy over the weekend and pickle the rest to keep for a while (a post on the pickled garlic scape is coming soon - I'm just waiting for its color to turn).

Having missed most of the spring and transition into the summer, I'm slowly coming back to my blog with simple summer recipes and updates on more classes - stay tuned!

Enjoy this beautiful summer weekend regardless of the weather situation in your area. ^^ 

Spicy-Tangy Garlic Scape Salad

Yields: 2 packed cups (0.5 lb.)

INGREDIENTS:
0.5 lb.               Garlic scapes, dry ends trimmed and cut to 2-inch length
Water and salt to blanch garlic scape (about 4 cups of water to 1/4 cup of coarse sea salt)

Dressing
2 tablespoons    Korean red pepper paste (고추장 gochujang)
1 tablespoon      Rice vinegar
1~2 teaspoons   Soy sauce
1 clove              Garlic, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon        Toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS: 
1. Bring water to a rolling boil in a pot big enough to hold 6 cups of water comfortably.  Add salt and stir to dissolve.  Add garlic scape.  After about 1~2 minutes, when the color turns bright green and its texture still remains soft-crunchy, remove from water.  Shock in ice water or rinse in cold water just until garlic scapes cool down.  Set aside.

2. Make the dressing by mixing together gochujang, rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, grated garlic and toasted sesame seeds.  Toss garlic scape in the dressing.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessasry with soy sauce.  Serve cold.  It is typically eaten as a side dish for rice.  I think it can also be a punchy condiment for many meat entrees and an addition to a regular salad.  Keep it refrigerated for storage.  It should be eaten within a couple of days.

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KOREAN WORDS
마늘        (ma neul)    garlic
마늘종     (ma neul jong)    garlic scape
마늘쫑     (ma neul jjong)   wrong spelling/pronounciation but
                                       a more common way people write/say garlic scape