Salted soy sauce caramel bites (Ganjang caramel)

One of the things I always try to hunt down whenever I visit Korea are these beautifully packaged milk caramel bites. Often found in convenience stores, these perfectly bite-sized squared caramels come individually wrapped in silver foiled paper; they are a classic confectionery, loved by all for their milky toffee-like taste and softly chewy texture. The soy sauce and salt used here layer different kinds of salty flavour, which I think is rather nice.

Credit: Toby Scott

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• a little vegetable oil, for greasing
• 150 ml (5fl oz/scant 2/3 cup) double (heavy) cream
• 50 ml (2fl oz/generous 3 tbsp) milk
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 125 g (4oz/2/3 cup) sugar
• 55 g (2oz) jocheong (rice syrup) or soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 25 g (1oz) unsalted butter
• sea salt flakes, to finish

Makes one 10 x 15 cm slab.

Setting time 4-6 hours

Instructions

1. Line a 10×15cm (4×6in) baking tray or container with parchment paper and lightly grease it with vegetable oil.
   
2. Put the double cream, milk, soy sauce and vanilla bean paste in a small saucepan. Place the pan over a low heat to gently warm the mixture, making sure it doesn’t boil.
   
3. Put the sugar, jocheong, water and lemon juice into a heavy-based saucepan and swirl the pan around a little so the sugar is saturated in liquid. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat without disturbing the pan too much, then simmer for 5–7 minutes until the sugar has turned golden brown in colour and reached 125ºC (257ºF).
   
4. Carefully stir in the warm cream and milk mixture. Simmer steadily over a low heat for about 20 minutes to caramelize the mixture, stirring frequently to stop the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You should notice small bubbles erupting as it thickens. The colour should have darkened to a shade of butterscotch and the temperature should be 125ºC (257ºF). You can also check it is ready by dropping a small amount of mixture into a bowl of cold water. If it holds its shape firmly and doesn’t make the water murky, it’s done.
   
5. Stir in the butter to incorporate, then remove from the heat.
   
6. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared tray. Wiggle the tray a little to help it spread. Sprinkle the top with a good pinch of salt. Leave to cool slightly, then transfer to the fridge to set for 4–6 hours. When done, remove from the fridge and slice the caramel with a sharp knife into 2cm (¾in) squares.
   
7. Once cut, you can wrap them individually in parchment paper, if you wish. Store them in the fridge, in an airtight container lined with lightly greased paper to keep them separated.

This is an edited extract from Pocha by Su Scott published by Quadrille. Photography © Toby Scott.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.