00:00 Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Black Magic Sesame Crisps.
00:09 That's right, we're using black sesame seeds to create a crispy, cracker-like snack that
00:14 is so addictively delicious you will think supernatural forces were at work.
00:19 Which of course they weren't.
00:21 Or were they?
00:22 You know, I'm really not supposed to say.
00:24 But what I can say is this recipe is super fast and dead simple.
00:29 And it starts by separating two egg whites into a bowl.
00:33 And there are some recipes, like when we're making a meringue, where we can't get even
00:36 a speck of egg yolk into the whites.
00:38 Well this is not one of those recipes.
00:41 So if you do get a little bit of yolk, just keep moving.
00:44 But ideally we're just getting the whites.
00:46 And then to those we will add some vegetable oil.
00:48 Okay, anything you want.
00:51 But I think we want something with a nice neutral flavor.
00:54 And then we will also do some salt, as well as some white sugar.
00:58 And of course we'll also do a few shakes of cayenne, or as it's also known, the devil's
01:03 spice.
01:05 And once that's in, we'll grab our whisk and mix this vigorously for about 30 seconds,
01:10 or slightly less enthusiastically for a minute, until that sugar dissolves and our mixture
01:14 looks something like this.
01:17 At which point we'll toss in some all-purpose flour.
01:19 And we'll go ahead and whisk that in, starting off kind of slowly at first.
01:24 Otherwise half that flour will end up on your counter.
01:27 But once it begins to incorporate, we can whisk more aggressively.
01:31 And we will keep whisking until we've formed a very thin, but totally smooth batter.
01:36 And once that's been accomplished, we will stop and add the star of the show, or should
01:41 I say stars of the show, thousands and thousands of black sesame seeds.
01:46 And we will take a spatula and mix those in.
01:49 And yes, this will work with white sesame seeds, so use those if you want.
01:54 I mean you are after all the witch of whether to make these like Chef John Mitzewich.
01:59 But personally I think the black sesame seeds make for a much more stunning presentation.
02:03 And white magic sesame crisps just doesn't have the same ring to it.
02:08 But either way, once mixed we'll go ahead and transfer that onto a Silpat lined baking
02:11 sheet.
02:12 And we will use the edge of our spatula to spread that really thin and really evenly.
02:17 And as luck would have it, with this amount of batter, if we spread that out all the way
02:21 to the colored border of a standard Silpat, we're going to end up with just about the
02:25 perfect thickness.
02:27 Although we do have some options in that regard, which I will cover later when I show you an
02:31 alternative method.
02:33 But anyway, the point is spread that out as evenly as you can.
02:37 And once we think we've done just that, we should definitely give this the old tapa tapa,
02:43 just to settle that batter down and flatten it out a little more.
02:48 At which point it's ready to transfer into the center of a 350 degree oven for about
02:53 20 minutes or so, or until it's lightly browned and looks like this.
02:59 Which I would describe as strange, but very gorgeous.
03:02 And as you can see, as it baked, that batter kind of grabbed onto the Silpat and it's sort
03:07 of curling up from the pan.
03:09 But don't worry, that's totally fine.
03:11 And once this cools, it's going to peel right off.
03:14 Speaking of which, for faster cooling, let's go ahead and slide it off the pan.
03:18 And that's it, we'll just let this sit and cool completely.
03:21 And once it is, it's going to harden and get very crispy.
03:25 And if you're wondering exactly how hard and crispy, well just listen to this, since fork
03:29 don't lie.
03:31 Oh yes, now that's what crispy sounds like.
03:39 And that's it, once crisp, we can go ahead and peel off the Silpat, which if you've never
03:43 done this before is intensely satisfying.
03:47 These are the kind of things that people that don't cook will never feel, which is a shame.
03:52 And yes, you could probably use this like this, as like an edible tray for some ham
03:55 and cheese or other charcuterie.
03:58 But otherwise, we'll go ahead and break this up into irregular pieces, which now that I
04:03 said it is kind of a dumb instruction, since you could break up a thousand of these and
04:08 never get two pieces that are exactly the same size and shape.
04:11 So what I really meant to say is just break it up.
04:14 Oh, and standard chef rules apply.
04:17 Any pieces that break off that are too small to serve can and should be eaten by whoever
04:21 made this.
04:22 And that my friends, besides being crispy and crunchy, is just so addictively delicious.
04:28 This kind of rides that line between savory and sweet.
04:31 And of course, there's a reason that so many cultures use sesame seeds for both savory
04:35 and sweet recipes.
04:37 They have that earthy nuttiness like lots of nuts and seeds.
04:41 But there's just something else going on that I can't really put my finger on.
04:45 But we don't have to.
04:47 All we need to do is put our fingers on these chips as we eat them.
04:50 But anyway, this is just method number one, where we make a giant thin one and then break
04:55 it up into crisps, which is how we served it with our now famous horrible hand, ham
05:00 and cheese board.
05:02 But for an alternative method, if you want, we can just apply individual spoonfuls right
05:06 onto the Silpat, forming a circle, or actually whatever shape we want.
05:12 And we can make them small and thick so that they come out with a texture more like a cracker.
05:17 Or we can spread them out even thinner than the first batch to get super thin crisps that
05:21 you can almost see through.
05:23 So besides being easy, this is a very versatile recipe as well.
05:27 So after patting those up and giving them the old tapa tapa, I cook those exactly the
05:32 same way at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until just like the other version, they're lightly
05:38 browned.
05:39 Oh, and if you make them about this size, one recipe will produce about 18 of these.
05:45 So after that first pan, I used the rest of the batter to do another batch, which you
05:49 can see here on the right, and I made those a little larger and a little thinner.
05:54 And which did I enjoy more?
05:56 Both.
05:57 They both were perfect.
05:59 Although I did choose the larger, thinner ones to make a little snack, which was to
06:03 use them as a base for some deviled tuna tartare, which is what I call chopped up raw tuna that
06:09 I've stirred a bunch of hot sauce into, along with a little bit of soy, a little bit of
06:13 rice vinegar, plus a little touch of sesame oil.
06:17 And that would make a very handsome addition to your appetizer recipe rotation.
06:22 And yes, I could have called these crackers, but I didn't, since it's a proven scientific
06:27 fact that people do not make their own crackers.
06:30 But crisps, on the other hand, oh yeah, people will make a crisp.
06:35 But no matter what you call them, they are absolutely amazing, and I really do hope you
06:39 give them a try soon.
06:42 So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe and much
06:46 more info, as usual.
06:49 And as always, enjoy!
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