Sweet Chai Panna Cotta

Directions

Panna Cotta (must be made the day before serving)

1. Pour the water into a small sauce pot/pan. Pour the gelatin over the surface of the water and allow 2-3 minutes for the gelatin to bloom.

2. Turn heat to low and stir the mixture until smooth and clump-free. Remove from heat.

3. In a small pot, add the heavy cream, whole milk, half & half, sugar, and chai spice (add more or less chai spice depending on preference). Turn heat to medium, simmer & stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Add your gelatin mixture to the heavy cream mixture with the heat still off.

5. Grease your ramekins using a neutral tasting oil or fat (I prefer avocado oil). Pour the combined mixture into each ramekin, filling almost to the top. Place the ramekins in the fridge and chill overnight. Mixture will hold refrigerator for up to 3 days without sacrifice to quality/taste.

Bachan's Soy Caramel Sauce

1. Pour the sugar and water to a wide, heavy bottomed saucepan and stir a little so it sits in a flat layer.

2. Heat the pot over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves, turns clear, and starts to bubble. (It will be cloudy at first, but will turn into a clear, bubbling liquid.) This will take up to 5 minutes.

3. At this point, do not stir again – Let the mixture bubble and swirl the saucepan occasionally, brushing down the sides of the pan as needed to prevent crystallization.

4. Sugar may clump but continue swirling and cooking until the mixture thickens and turns a deep amber color like honey (this can take anywhere from 8-12 minutes), keeping a watchful eye so the mixture doesn’t burn. If using a candy thermometer (recommended), the target temp is between 338 – 350 degrees. It MUST reach this range without going over 350 or the mixture will burn, resulting in a bitter taste.

5. Carefully add the butter and whisk until completely melted. (The caramel will bubble up rapidly, so be careful and continue to whisk.)

6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly pour in the cream, whisking continuously until all of the cream has been incorporated. Then add the Bachan's Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce and stir or whisk well.

7. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.

8. Set pan aside to cool for a few minutes before plating with the panna cotta (it will thicken as it cools so keep an eye on the texture/thickness to determine when to plate).

Plating

1. Streak center of plate with a liberal amount of Caramel Sauce as the base.

2. Plate Panna Cotta by gently removing and flipping from ramekin in center of plate.

3. Finish with pulverized ginger cookie, sugared lotus root, kumquat, and mint .

Recipe provided by @the_roybal_supperclub