5 Ingredients, an Urban Family series where we sit down with a Shanghai-based chef and ask for a family-friendly meal using 5 Ingredients easily found in Shanghai; let us help you start the week with a simple five-step recipe!
This week we talked to Michael Wilson, Executive Chef at PHÉNIX eatery & bar. This Australian-born chef from Melbourne has been in the kitchen since he was 14 years old and moved to Shanghai 6 years ago for his position at The PuLi Hotel and Spa. He explains how he has gained tremendous insights into different techniques and flavors from his experiences when traveling around the world; such as learning a timeless recipe from a ‘nona’ in Italy and implementing this into his own culinary approach.
Can you tell me about the dish you are helping us prepare this week?
I am going to teach my delicious Chocolate Mi-Cuit, also known as Chocolate Lava Cake. This French phrase translates to ‘half-cooked,’ which is exactly how these cakes are made best. The amount of people who ask me how to make this dish is outrageous, so here it is in all of its simplicity. The ingredients are easy to find in any international supermarket around town and anyone can make this dish for everyone to enjoy!
What five ingredients do we need?
These quantities will make approximately 15 small cakes if you place 55 grams of mixture into each cake mould.
250 grams butter
250 grams 65 percent chocolate
5 whole eggs and 5 egg yolks
50 grams sugar
25 grams cake flour
What is the five-step recipe?
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Over a pot of simmering water, melt the butter and sugar with the chocolate. Remove and let it reduce to a tepid temperature, then mix in the eggs and flour.
3. Butter the inside of small cake moulds and coat with flour, shaking off any excess.
4. Fill each mould with 55 grams of your chocolate mixture.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes with the oven fan off, then remove and allow to rest for one minute. Run a thin blade around the outside of the cakes to loosen and demould onto the serving plate.
What's your advice on your dish of the week?
Cook from room temperature with no fan in the oven; you need to follow this advice to ensure your cakes cook to perfection or the inside will be too firm. Be patient, the cooking time will vary slightly for each oven, so you will need to test it. I recommend serving with ice-cream or make some whipped cream (see Kim Melvin’s 5 Ingredients recipe for Crème Chantilly). For extra decadence, these cakes also bake nicely inside a cocoa flavoured tart shell. If you can’t eat them all at once, they can keep in the fridge for up to three days.
Tell us something that's happening in your restaurant at the moment that our Urban Family community can enjoy.
Sunday brunch is a good time to bring your family to PHÉNIX, it’s a very relaxed atmosphere where you can try many different dishes from the extensive buffet offering along with the items cooked to order. There is also a great free-flow deal on champagne for the big kids!
See listing for PHÉNIX eatery and bar.
For more 5 Ingredients recipes, click here.
