Foie Gras Custard with Crispy Shallot is an elegant and velvety dish that embodies indulgence. The silky-smooth foie gras custard melts in the mouth, delivering a luxurious, buttery texture with deep umami notes. The contrast of crispy, golden shallots adds a delightful crunch and a subtle sweetness that enhances the richness of the foie gras.
This dish is often served as a refined appetizer, paired with toasted brioche or a drizzle of aged balsamic for a perfect balance of flavors. Best enjoyed with a glass of Sauternes or a well-aged white wine, it's an exquisite choice for a fine dining experience at home
Ingredients
Method
- If making your own shallots, put them in the small frying pan with the cold oil and set it over medium heat.
- Fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until the shallots are pale golden; they darken after they come out of the oil.
- Lift the shallots onto paper towels with the slotted spoon, sprinkle them with salt and leave them to crisp.
- Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line the tin with baking paper.
- Warm the coconut milk with the palm sugar in the small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved; do not boil.
- Pour the warm coconut milk into the blender with the pandan leaves and blend for 30 seconds.
- Strain the coconut milk through the sieve, pressing on the leaves, and let it cool to lukewarm.
- Rinse the blender and blend the foie gras with the cream and 2 tbsp of the crisp shallots until smooth.
- Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt in the bowl just to combine, without making them frothy.
- Whisk in the pandan coconut milk, then the foie gras cream.
- Strain the mixture through the sieve into the jug.
- Pour it into the lined tin and pop any bubbles on the surface with the tip of a knife.
- Bake for 35–45 minutes, until the custard is set at the edges with only a slight wobble in the centre and the top is golden; if the top is still pale, put it under the grill for 2–3 minutes.
- Let the custard cool in the tin for 1 hour.
- Lift it out, sprinkle with the remaining crisp shallots and cut into 16 squares.
- Serve at room temperature, two squares per person.
- Blend the duck foie gras with 2 tbsp of crisp fried shallot and cream until its smooth, set aside.
- Break all the eggs into a bowl, add sugar and coconut milk.
- Mix thoroughly by kneading with the pandanus leaves until the sugar has dissolved.
- Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, add foie gras mixture, and mix well.
- Pour into baking pan and bake in an oven at 350F for 30 minutes or until the custard is done and the surface is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
- Sprinkle with the crisp fried shallot, and cut into pieces to serve.
What we changed for home
- 5 duck eggs replaced with 7 large chicken eggs Duck eggs are sold mainly in Asian shops and at some farmers' markets; seven chicken eggs weigh about the same, roughly 350 g.
- Palm sugar dissolved in warm coconut milk instead of kneaded into cold eggs Hard palm sugar dissolves very slowly in cold liquid; undissolved lumps sink and burn on the bottom of the tin.
- Pandan leaves blended with the coconut milk and strained; or ½ tsp pandan extract, or 1 tsp vanilla extract Blending releases more aroma than kneading the leaves by hand. Frozen pandan leaves are sold in Asian supermarkets; vanilla gives a different but pleasant fragrance.
- Tin size given (20 cm square) and baking time raised from 30 to 35–45 minutes The original doesn't say how big the pan is. In a 20 cm tin the custard is about 2.5 cm deep and needs longer than 30 minutes in a home oven to set in the middle.
- Recipe for crisp fried shallots added Ready-made fried shallots are sold in tubs in Asian shops; if you can't find them, they take 10 minutes to make.
- Foie gras can be replaced with 150 g chicken or duck livers and 50 g soft butter Foie gras is expensive and not sold everywhere. Livers and butter, blended smooth, give a similar rich savoury note, though less silky.
The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.
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