How to Make Chef John's Black Magic Sesame Crisps
In this video, learn the art of crafting Chef John's Black Magic Sesame Crisps in this step-by-step guide. Uncover the secret behind the blend of flavors and crunchy texture that makes this chip the ideal choice for your next brunch or charcuterie board. With Chef John as your culinary guide, you'll transform basic ingredients into irresistible crisps that are sure to dazzle your taste buds. Watch, learn, and prepare to be impressed by these delectable homemade treats.
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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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