Flan

Flan is a common dessert in Vietnam. I remember one time my sister-in-law made a big flan for my brother, but my niece and I ate it all in one day. She was so surprised, so she made another the next day. Same thing happened. She did it for about a week, then she just gave up to our shark-liked eating behavior. I was so sad when she stopped making flan.

Anyways, flan was originally from France, which was called "Flaon." It is a sweet pastry dessert that usually in round shape. My favorite flan is served with shaved ice and aromatic coffee. The flan, itself, is sweet and rich from condensed milk not from heavy cream. It has a light golden color on the top and brownie, comes from caramel, in the bottom. The dark coffee complies the richness and sweetness coming from the flan. When I put a teaspoon of flan and the coffee in my mouth, I can feel the flavor coming from home-grown eggs and aromatic coffee. The texture is silky and it melts inside my mouth. Everything is like exploding at the time. That's what it makes me crave for more.

There are many versions of flan. My flan is sweet and rich but not too much, firm but soft, extremely silky with very few transparent bubbles, egg yolk flavor and coffee scent. 

So here is the recipe for those who what to give it a try. My recipe is a combination of Vietnamese and Japanese style. It helps control the firmness of the cake better and reduce the cooking time.

Preparation: 30 mins
Cooks: 5 mins ( yes, it is abnormal compared to the original method)

Ingredients:

7 eggs
1 condensed milk
5 tablespoons of sugar
Gelatin
Ramekins

Directions:

Beat 7 egg yolks and 5 egg whites into a big bowl and whisk it slowly
Mix condensed milk and boiled water with ratio 1:1
Pour the mix of milk into the bowl of egg.
Put 1/2 teaspoon of gelatin powder into the mixture, mix well.
Pour the mixture over a filter to remove any undissolved parts
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color.
Carefully put the caramel into each ramekin and put them into fridge to cool down
Carefully pour the egg into each ramekin without mixing up with the caramel
Put about 1 liter of water into the lowest tray of a steamer pot. 
Put all the ramekin in the higher trays.
Cover the pot lid with a bath tissue to prevent water drops to fall into the ramekins
Steam in high heat in 7 minutes,
To check whether the flan is cooked or not, use a fork or tooth stick. if the liquid does not stick on the fork or the stick, it's fully cooked.
Put all in a fridge to cool and serve.

Try it with coffee and shaved ice.

Use a knife to cut around the ramekin and put a disk on the ramekin.
Turn the ramekin with the disk upside down.
Put shaved ice on top of the flan.
Pour a little of coffee on top of the shaved ice
Tada~ We have a treasure buried under an ice mountain.