Dulce de Miso or Miso de Leche a.k.a. "Simulated" Chocolate

New Rule #54 which will be posted above this explains the motivation behind this exciting discovery.

In the last few weeks I have been pressure cooking everything after conversations with Alex T and his experiments with caramelized white chocolate and coconut milk. My original intent was simply to use it as a time saving vehicle in making miso-dulce-de leche for a pork dish. The approach was simply to caramelize condensed milk and add some miso for a depth of savory saltiness. Everything worked perfectly, milk was caramelized and then put in a blender, thinned out with some water and augmented with miso to taste, great balanced caramel-salty flavors.

The second time I made it, I decided to save time by just putting everything in a  mason jar and caramelizing.

2 Random ratios were used not for any specific reason but to have a baseline of the results.

Jar1  170grams Condensed Milk-50grams aka miso

Jar2  120grams Condensed Milk-60grams aka miso

Jars 3 and 4 used same ratios with the only deviation being "shiro" miso.

All 4 jars were pressure cooked for 1 hr at high pressure.

Water was filled just below the rim of jars.

After cooking and letting the jars cool down sufficiently by convection, you get a frightening looking mush of caramelized milk and miso which made me sad at first because I just felt like I wasted time and product but the next logical thing to do was to emulsify and see what happens. I poured everything into a thermomix blender, turned on the heat function and pureed. The mixture emulsified somewhat but still looked a bit grainy so I started adding hot water a little at a time and presto it became silky smooth.

The true revelation however after opening the blender lid was it smelled almost like chocolate but tasted exactly like a bittersweet chocolate ganache in the 68 to 72% cocoa content range but there was absolutely no cocoa in it.

I tuned on the blender again and adjusted with a bit of caster sugar and ultratex-3 and gave it to 4 very seasoned people to say what it was without telling them.

They all said .......duh....chocolate!

The possibilities opened up by this are huge. Tonight I am working on a flourless cake made in the syle of St.Nizer, basically a flourless savory "Miso de Leche" cake which would work with Pork, Duck and Squab among other things.

Imagine a "Miso de Leche" cake with pickled or brandied cherries paired with Foie Gras.

How about Smoked "Miso de Leche" on chicharones.

I already have a Miso De Leche Ice Cream freezing for the Pacojet.

The introduction of nut oils like hazelnut or peanut would be insane.

The Miso De leche ended up last week with the pork belly at Breakfast For Dinner.

So there you have it.

Making "Chocolate" without any Cocoa Involved.

Comments

[Joseph Bayot]

this is intrguiging! perhaps I will try this sometime. Or maybe I'll attend one of your dinners. Time to start setting aside some money for a trip to Philly!

[Sha]

More than interesting! I have to try once! Or more ;)

[Tim]

How long and at what psi were you cooking at?

[Porter]

I have tried to replicate this process several times, but all my attempts have resulted in revolting mixtures that taste more like rotten miso than chocolate. I'm curious where I am going wrong, as I would love to play around with a chocolateless 'chocolate'. I've tried the ratios posted (170/50g and 120/60g condensed milk/miso) with shiro, aka, and adzuki miso. All have been put into the pressure cooker for one hour at second ring, cooled, then blended with a small amount of hot water to a silken consistency.

While I haven't yet tried to add sugar or a texture enhancer, I feel something is off and would love a little help if possible. Thanks!