5 Ingredients is 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 met with Bina Yu, Head Chef at the new French-Asian communal-dining restaurant Together. Chef Bina hails from Korea and has previously worked her magic in the kitchen at contemporary Korean restaurant CHI-Q at Three on the Bund. She has a passion for French cuisine and trained under the illustrious Jean-Georges Vongerichten for 10 years. With her new endeavor at Together, she joins forces with talented chef Kim Melvin to deliver an exceptionally flavorsome menu at their stylish restaurant in Jing’an.
Can you tell me about the dish you are helping us prepare this week?
I will teach my grapefruit crème brûlée; this is a classic dessert with a twist. It is simple to make and delicious.
Image via Pexels
What five ingredients do we need?
1 grapefruit (½ cup juice, ½ zest, ½ segments)
2 cups whipping cream
½ cup brown sugar (plus 1 tablespoon for the caramelized brûlée)
¼ cup cornstarch
1 egg yolk
Additional seasoning: A pinch of salt
What is the five-step recipe?
1. Cut the grapefruit in half. Juice one half and zest the rind. With the other half, cut and detach each segment and slice them into smaller pieces. Put aside the juice, zest and segments to use later.
2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir 1 cup of cream, 1⁄4 cup brown sugar and the grapefruit juice. Bring to the boil over medium heat.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the cornstarch and remaining 1⁄4 cup of sugar until smooth. Then, slowly drizzle the cream from Step 2 and mix, making sure you don’t cook
the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place on the hotplate, stir continually and slowly bring to the boil. Make sure you don’t curdle the eggs or scorch the bottom.
4. Once the mixture thickens, remove it from the heat and stir in the grapefruit zest and salt. Then, cool it down by placing the saucepan in a bowl of ice. Make sure the cream doesn’t become too hard.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk 1 cup of cream until whipped, then slowly fold it into the mixture from Step 4. Once mixed, gently stir in the grapefruit segments.
For serving: Scoop the mixture into a round ceramic bowl, use
a knife to flatten the top. Place uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then, sprinkle brown sugar on the surface and if you have a kitchen torch, caramelize the top surface by evenly melting the sugar.
Image via Bina Yu/Together
What’s your advice on your dish of the week?
If you want to make this recipe healthier, you can replace sugar with honey which will result in a lighter consistency.
Tell us something that’s happening at Together, that our Urban Family community can enjoy.
At Together, we are putting the final touches on our brunch menu. Breakfast might come later in the year, but for now, we are extremely busy with our brunch, lunch and dinner service. The opening of our new restaurant has brought many diners, and I feel blessed to see many people enjoying my food.
See listing for Together.
[Cover image via Bina Yu/Together]
For more 5 Ingredients recipes, click here.
