When it comes to cooking, I am a solid home cook and am very good at feeding people. What is seriously lacking is any artistic flourish to what is served. I very rarely think of adding a garnish of edible flowers or a slick of herb oil or a sprinkling of seeds and nuts onto any dish I have cooked. The most my mother ever did was to slice some red chilli and spring onion to put onto fried noodles. I cannot recall my grandmother ever embellishing any dish. Food was for eating, not for decorating.
Chinese practicalities notwithstanding, it is sometimes fun to add finishing touches to what we cook. This should be my aim for this year. I am starting with this pecan nut topping which is coated with miso and maple syrup before being baked for a short time. This is adapted from Bon Appétit where it is used in their Miso-and-Maple-Pecan Butter Mochi Cake.
For the Pecan-Miso-Maple Topping:
200 g whole pecan nuts
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons golden caster sugar
2 teaspoons white or yellow miso
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C regular.
Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil.
Place the pecans, maple syrup, sugar and miso in a medium bowl. Stir until everything is well mixed.
Spread the nuts on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Cool completely before using whole or chopped up.
I used the topping on a Banana Bundt and on top of French toast with bananas and maple syrup. This topping is also very good on Sticky Toffee Pudding and with vanilla / banana / chocolate ice cream. In its unchopped form it makes a very more-ish snack. I am also thinking that adding a tablespoon of sesame seeds might enhance its nuttiness. If the nuts have softened (where it has not been used up immediately) you can refresh it in a medium hot oven for a few minutes and it will crisp up again. The most efficient way of doing this is to place the nuts in the oven after you have baked a cake, when the heat has been switched off. The residual heat is enough to crisp up the nuts.
