# Help with Asian desserts



## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

Help, Help I need help. When you think of an Asian Restaurant, what kind of desserts do you think about? Other than infusing with spices and using fruits from that area, Im sorta stuck with anything more. I like to use interesting plating of indivigual desserts, however, they must relate to the Asian menu. I think someone should write a book of just desserts from that whole area. For people llike me it would be of great assistance. If there is I cant find one. Thanks ahead of time


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Depends on which Nationality or Country you're referring to. Do you have a specific one in mind?


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## chefkell (May 9, 2003)

What part of Asia? Does it have to be authentic? I've had great sucess doing some fusion-esque type stuff.

Lemongrass Sorbet Napoleon with Sweet Wasabi dusted Won Ton Wrappers

Galangal Creme Brulee with Caramelized Lychees

Fruit Sushi...Use coconut milk in the suhi rice, wrap it around a piece of mango and roll in taosted peanuts instead of sesame seeds. You can also dehydrate raspberry coulis on a silpat to make a homemade version of a "fruit Rollup" and use that instead of nori...serve with pomegranite essence instead of soy.

There's a lot of stuff...sift through books on savory stuff and try to find something you can suplement sweet stuff for. Good luck.


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## mike (Jan 24, 2003)

cool desserts chefkell...
apart from indian cuisine , asian desserts tend not to be dairy based & use a lot of fruit. Generally thyre pretty basic & fruit orientated. check out chefzaldyph a member of chef talk, he has his own website too & im sure he is an oracle .

chow


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

I'm thinking 'dumplings'. You can fill them with virtually anything, and you can freeze them, and steam them off when you need 'em. You can also flavor the wrappers with chocolate! Try fillings such as tapioca or sweetened rice, with bits of fruit...Use your imagination. 

You can go nuts with sorbets: How about lychee or durian.

All over Chinatown, you'll find New Year's bean cakes. You can do your own rendition, if you can find a recipe. They're really different, and yummy.

It may sound trite, but think of all the fun things you can do with fortune cookies: You can flavor them, fill them, garnish with them, or insert your own little fortunes.

Also, in the Phillipines and Malaysia, you'll find a lot of rice desserts, wrapped in banana leaves, as well as 'sundaes', with agar jelly, corn, shaved ice, and syrup, among other things. They also make an amazing peanut pancake, and I'm sure you can locate that in a good Malaysian cookbook.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

BTW, wizcat, we really like talking about desserts in the baking and pastry forums. Please visit us there!


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

momoreg,
Stop! My stomach's growling! LOL!


wizcat3,
Are you looking for traditional ethnic deserts or are you looking to modernize them as proposed above?

:chef:


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

Momoreg, sorry about putting thread in the "question" forum. Should you move it? 
Thanks all of you for your help and directing me toward the right direction. I certainlly have alot of work to do now. Alot of tasty ideas there. Ive been thinking about French pastries too long. Im not needing anything authentic . Fusion and moderation will fit the bill, thank heavens. I took alook at chefzaldyph's web page and again lots of stuff there also. I'll be in NYC next week and I'll go to Chinatown to find those bean cakes and peanut pancakes, yum !! Books could be a little difficult here as B&Noble and Borders do not have too much. My favorite bookstore is Kitchen Arts and Letters in NYC I may have some questions later. Thanks again!!!!!!
:lips:


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## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

My favorite Asian Dessert...

*Hot Candied Apples* 
from _Chinese Cuisine from the Master Chefs of China_

This works well with bananas which was the way I had it originally.

3 Medium Green Apples, peeled, cored and wedged
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
3 Tblsp. Sesame Oil plus 1 tsp. for brushing on platter
5 cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 or more bowls of icewater

Roll the apple wedges in the dry cornstarch, then place in a bowl of the cornstarch paste; stir to coat them evenly.

Brush 1 tsp. of the sesame oil on a large serving platter and warm the oiled platter. The oil will keep the apples from sticking when they are ready to serve.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok. When the oil is VERY hot (about 425- 450 degrees) and smoking, drop the apple pieces in, one by one. When they crackle (indicating that the cornstarch coating is well fried and crisp), scoop them out with a strainer and drain them thoroughly.

Clean the wok and heat the remaining sesame oil over a medium flame. Add the sugar and stir, slowly at first, and then quickly, until the mixture turns golden and bubbles. Lower the heat and when the bubbling has completely subsided, add the apples to the syrup. Toss the wok repeatedly (AND CAREFULLY) to coat the apples evenly on all sides until each piece is thoroughly coated.

TO serve: Place a bowl of icewater on the table. Using chopsticks, dip the tips of the chopsticks first into the ice water, then place 2-3 pieces of candied apple into the icewater bowl. Toss them to chill. Repeat with remaining apple wedges. Serve immediately directly into dessert plates. The candy will harden and the fruit inside will be hot and moist.

This is especially dramatic when done at table (the icewater dunking part).


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

Hi chiffonade, Candied apples sounds interesting, but I am a little confused as to why u put the carmeled apples in ice water before eating unless its because they are hot. OR is that before plating, as in the way a restaurant would do. Also, would these hold for a couple of hours+, even tho the apple would be only room temp for service?


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Chiffonade, I always wondered what the method was for this dessert! I've seen this done with apples and bananas. The hot syrup becomes almost like a creme brulee coating on the fruit, wizcat. It chills it instantly. I remember seeing this served in a Chinese restaurant many years ago. It's very impressive to watch the server do this, especially when they do it right and don't splatter the hot sugar on themselves or the customers!  Thanks, Chiffonade!

Momo, the dumplings sound lovely, and I bet they'd look lovely with fruit (mango, cherry, etc.) showing through the translucent dough. Hmmm- what kind of wrapper do they use in Thai and Vietnamese restaurants? Is it a rice wrapper? It's nearly transparent.

I know Greece isn't exactly Asia, but I was very impressed by a supremely simple dessert I was served there. The platter was filled with orange chunks, sprinkled with walnuts, drizzled with honey and dusted lightly with cinnamon. Very refreshing! I'm sure someone will have some variations to offer.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

If I may jump in and answer for Chiff -- the point is that when you put the hot-caramel-coated apples into the ice water, they solidify IMMEDIATELY into a clear, crunchy candy-apple crust. (As well as cool down enough to eat). It's actually pretty impressive to see. But I've never thought about it being done ahead of time; it's one of those tableside things meant to get the customers oohing and aahing.

Now, my 2¢: when I worked at an Asian-fusion place, I made lemongrass sorbet, banana-passion fruit sorbet, mango sorbet, pineapple-champagne sorbet, coconut ice cream.

But as Mudbug said, if you can tell us more which country or countries, we can get more specific with our suggestions.


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## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

If you ate them hot out of the wok, it would be the equivalent of trying to eat jam hot out of the pot. They would scald your lips right off your face! The technique is designed to create a hard "candy" like shell around the hot fruit. It sounds intimidating but try it. The ingredients are relatively cheap and it's worth a go. I did this for 8 people when I prepared a full formal Chinese dinner for my gourmet group.

*** Edited to say *DOH!* I didn't see that Suzanne answered!! Thanks, Suzanne


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

I keep thinking to myself, "why water"? Wouldn't something flavorful be even better? Like apple juice....or better yet, some kind of apple cocktail? It does sound yummy anyway.


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## pongi (Jan 11, 2002)

Just my 2 cents!

if you're thinking about Middle Eastern/Indian cooking, any kind of pudding or icecream could be good provided that it's made with ingredients suitable in the area (rice, dairy, fruits: personally, the only thing I wouldn't use is chocolate) and maybe "orientalized" with appropriate flavours like almond, cinnamon, orange blossom or rose water. Other options are puff pastries or crèpes, filled with nuts or a flavoured custard.

As for a Chinese/Japanese meal, why not playing with adzuki bean paste? Apart from the traditional Asian desserts, it's a very versatile ingredient which reminds me a lot of chestnut jam, with the additional appeal of its nice color. You can easily make it from raw adzuki beans and find your own way to enjoy it. An option could be for example a rice parfait or icecream, served with a hot adzuki bean coulis.

Pongi


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## chiffonade (Nov 29, 2001)

The purpose of the water is not to impart any flavor but to have the temperature difference between the water and the fruit create a physical reaction (becoming hard). It's like testing sugar syrup in cold water to see what stage it has reached. If you drop a well-made caramel into a glass of water, it should become hard and create a distinct ball - although that's not what it looked like going in. 

The water is a temperature change vehicle, nothing more.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Right, I understand that, but still, it would be nice if there was some flavor involved in that process.


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## mike (Jan 24, 2003)

We call them toffee apples and its a pud thats pretty ubiquitous over here and available in most chinese restaurants. One caution though is the danger of a customer forgetting to dip the caramel into the water ( it makes an amazing crackling sound), in the land of the litegators you could be asking for trouble.
Little sweetened mung bean tartlettes are tasty.


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

asian flavoured desserts or asian style desserts?

a lot of the asian desserts are based around flavours like:

sweetened bean pastes
fruit jellies i.e. durian, starfruit etc
steamed sponges (like the sponge cake you would get at yum cha)

other directions you can go could be such things as jackfruit ice creams, tropical fruit sorbets (as mentioned before), variations of the egg custard tart (portuguese in origin so i believe).

rice puddings are another easily made thing (also mentioned previously) as are sago puddings.

Dont forget teas as well. Star anise, ginger and perhaps chinese 5 spice mix.

There's also influences from the subcontinent as well, like, as a suggestion, profiteroles filled with a orange and cardamon creme patisserie.

you can pretty much look around and go to town on this (so to speak) by going to a asian supermarket and looking at what sort of products they have in their confectionery section. Also you can look at what sort of ice creams and desserts that are available there as well.

go crazy.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Okay, maybe it's a little Gale Gandish, but why not lollipops? Add Asian spices and herbs, etc. to tea bases, combine with sugar syrup, etc. and make little suckers or candy sticks.

In my quest for a low carb noodle, I learned that konnyaku paste is often sweetened and flavored, then cut into bite-sized pieces or rolled and cut with decorative cutters. The powder is available on-line, I know. I guess many Japanese just love it. The texture is like gummi bears.


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

Lollipops! What Fun!
Chiffonade and Susanne, I know it would be to hot without cooling, just didnt know why it couldnt cool down on the plate. The thing about tableside could be a problem for most restaurants, and this one also. The severs usally are too busy or dont want to have anypart of tableside. Also some chefs dont want it either, they just want the food to get out hot. I certainly understand that. I always want desserts to get out before they melt

I spent couple hours in book store this am and came up with alot more info than I thought was there. Especially a book Im going to buy of defination for ALL ingredients in the Asian markets. If I know what they are then I can find a place (desserts) to use them in. Yea Great Book, something like "Food Lovers Companion"

I am going to try some things this weekend. Im sure I'd have to do a tasting menu or etc. Oh! I think the menu shud be more Chinese/Japanese influences. Thanks again, lots of ideas.


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## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

The China Moon Cafe Cookbook has a wonderful asian oriented dessert section. It might be worth a look.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Oh my goodness. Here are just a few general Asian references:

_Encyclopedia of Asian Food_ by Charmaine Solomon
_The Asian Grocery Store Demystified_ by Linda Bladhold
_Asian Ingredients_ by Bruce Cost
_Ken Hom's Asian Ingredients_ by Ken Hom
_The encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking_ by Jacki Passmore

Unfortunately, I don't have anything on Japanese, but there are many new books (easily available) about Japanese cooking.


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## w.debord (Mar 6, 2001)

I might have missed this, but did anyone post filled wontons? You can fill them with just about anything from fruits to chocolate, they hold in the freezer and can be fried to order in the kitchen. You can also get pretty creative with dipping sauces for them. 

You also can do filled cake rolls, pretty much like you'd do sushi. Sub. in pastry cream or mousse for your rice and use fruits for your color lined down the center. Slice and turn up to present. This is actually pretty easy to do. Again you could offer some fun funky dipping sauce....


I've done the fried fruit dumplings before, they are wonderful......but to demanding for success with-out a commitment to training your staff. Even then only one or two out of your staff will be good at it.

Hot-pot of some sort.........dip fruits and cakes into hot-pot. It could be a 5spice chocolate sauce or syrup. Asian version of a fondue.........it has alot of presentation posiblities not much skilled prep. needed.

I think you could do just about anything with a small Asian twist. I do love all the Asian fruit and spice sorbet possiblities and that could cross over to be used with rice pudding too. Ginger and chocolate tart. Fruit tart (Asian fruits) with 5 spice pastry cream. Creme Brulees with Asian seasoning or fruits......ginger, lechyee, manderin orange, candied ginger. Scezaun (sp?) baby ginger cakes with seasonal fruits and seasoned whip cream.


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

:bounce: Thanks, Thanks, Thanks, to all of you. I'm now working on menus and the recipes. The Market here has lots of different fruits so Ill be able to work with all of them. Must say Im very busy now for someone who doesnt have a job yet. W


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## ironchefatl (Dec 1, 2002)

This is very simple but tasty. Combine cocnut JUICE (not milk) w/ steamed jasmine rice. It is garnished with fruit, mango is tasty.


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## lauren1992 (Jun 3, 2014)

Black sesame gel! It's delicious , shouxing wine is great to use too! And obviously yuzu, and other Asian friuts.


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