Eloise Praino - Honey Yam Dumplings

Makes 10

Ingredients

Honey Yam Dumplings

½ cup dired, sweetened black soybeans, roughly chopped; or 1/3 cup sweet red bean paste

1 tbs sake

½ tsp hatcho miso

500g honey yams

Pinch salt

2 tbsp plain flour

½  egg yolk

Oil, to deep fry

Caramel

100g Wagyu beef fat, chopped

1 tsp hatcho miso

1 cup sake

¼ cup caster sugar

Daikon pickled in cherry blossom

Salt

Reserved pickled daikon, grated finely with excess liquid squeezed out, to serve

Pickled cherry blossom flowers, to garnish

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.  Pre-heat deep fryer oil to 170C.
2. For the Honey Yam Dumplings, mix soybeans, (or red bean paste) sake and miso together in a small bowl to form a rough paste.  Season and set the filling aside until needed.
3. Roast honey yams in preheated oven, directly on rack, until cooked through and tender about 25-30 minutes.  Peel off skin and discard.  Place flesh in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the flour, egg yolk and salt and combine well to form a soft dough.
4. Using wet hands, divide dough into 10 balls.  Using your thumb, make an indent in each ball and fill with 1-2 teaspoons of filling.  Fold dough around filling carefully to enclose.  Repeat for remaining dumplings.
5. Deep fry the dumplings in batches, in the pre-heated, until golden brown, about 5 – 6 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oil and set aside to drain on paper towel until needed.
6. Meanwhile, for the Caramel, render beef fat in a small saucepan, adding a small amount of water occasionally, to yield 3 tablespoons of fat.  Strain the fat into a medium bowl, discarding solids. 
7. Meanwhile, simmer sake over a medium heat until reduced by half.
8. Add the sugar and continue heating until reduced to around 3 tablespoons liquid.
9. Add the strained beef fat, miso and pickling liquor and combine well.  Season with salt.
10. To serve, place Honey Yam Dumplings on plate.  Place mound of grated daikon alongside.
11. Garnish with the pickled cherry blossom flower. Serve Caramel in ramekin on the side.