Recipe: Cheesy Curry Biscuits with Miso Honey Butter
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Not long ago, the concept of fusion baking was completely unknown to me. In my mind, there were distinctly “Western” baked confections—mostly too sweet for my taste—like cookies, scones, danishes, and then there were Asian style baked goods that were soft, fluffy, considerably less sweet and sometimes even savory. I loved going to Taiwanese bakeries and grabbing my tray and tongs to reach for hot dog buns or ham and cheese pastries and would steer clear of Western cafe offerings like brownies and blueberry muffins. Then, one day I visited a popular local Asian-owned cafe called Home, and something in their pastry case caught my eye: a “Japanese curry scone”.
Upon tasting this scone, my life was changed, and that is not an exaggeration. You see, this was a few years ago, when I was just starting my instagram account, and I really had very little exposure to if Asian-American people or Asian flavors were receiving any sort of recognition in the States (outside of bubble tea). I was still at my sad (and microaggressively racist) tech job where I often worked 12–14 hour days, so I didn’t have a lot of time to pick up my head and see what else was going on around me. But on that day, I was peacefully making time for myself in a cafe that was cute and sold high-quality treats without being kawaii or gimmicky or exotic, and having this scone—a super savory pastry that perfectly married the flavors of Japanese curry and cheese, had nice bits of corn, and a strip of nori on top for an elegant look—and it truly opened my mind to new possibilities. Somehow this became a clear signal for me that Asian-Americans could share their flavors in baked goods and reclaim fusion foods, but also that they could run businesses and create spaces that paid tribute to Asian heritage without being tokenized or orientalized.
After some sleuthing, I learned that Home served pastries from Third Culture Bakery, which at the time was just getting traction as well, I think, but has since grown hugely in popularity for their mochi muffins and donuts with Asian-inspired flavors (all of which are absolutely delicious). Though I am thrilled for their success with these not-too-sweet sweet treats, I was pretty heartbroken when they stopped making their Japanese curry scone—the pastry that had changed my perception of Asian-American pastries forever.
I never forgot that joyful moment of first tasting Third Culture Bakery’s savory Japanese curry scone but since I can’t buy it from them anymore, this recipe is a loving tribute to that. I am not really into copycat recipes, so instead, this is an attempt to make something that is just in the spirit of the delicious flavor combination I experienced. I opted for biscuits instead of scones because I already know how to make biscuits anyway. (You can find my recipes for honey biscuits and cheddar scallion biscuits here).
I paired the biscuits with a miso honey butter because I wanted to continue to celebrate Japanese ingredients and you gotta serve biscuits with honey and/or butter. You should be able to split apart these biscuits without a knife due to their buttery layers, making perfect surfaces for slathering on that compound butter.
Some notes about special ingredients:
Japanese curry powder: The flavor of these biscuits is meant to be similar to the flavor of curry that is served with katsu. There are lots of things out there that are generically labeled “curry powder” but the flavor of curry dishes varies so vastly from region to region. The one I used for this recipe is this S&B brand powder** which is a product of Japan. The amount of curry used in this recipe gives it a very obvious curry flavor without it being spicy or overwhelming. Fwiw, my white spouse taste-tester agreed it was the perfect amount. But feel free to dial back if you aren’t as accustomed to curry and want something more subtle.
furikake: There are a lot of different types of furikake out there too, but I prefer to the basic one with nori, salt, and sesame seeds as the main components. This is the one** I always use. The furikake design I made on the biscuits is a tribute to the strip of nori that used to be on the Third Culture Bakery scones; I cut a little stencil out of parchment paper to achieve this effect.
To make these mini biscuits, I used a 3-inch cutter. It made such a satisfying *whoosh* sound as I was pressing it into the dough! But if you’d prefer, you can simply cut the dough up to make square biscuits. I opted to make them the same shape and about the same size as the source of inspiration; you can see what those beloved scones looked like in my ancient Instagram post right here.
How to Make Cheesy Curry Biscuits with Miso Honey Butter
(Makes about 14 biscuits)
Ingredients for Miso Honey Butter
4 tbsp salted butter, softened at room temp
1 tsp red miso
5 tsp honey
Ingredients for Biscuits
10 tbsp butter, frozen
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra bench flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
5 tsp Japanese curry powder
kosher salt
1 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 packed cup grated pepper jack cheese (~3 oz)
1/3 packed cup grated gruyere cheese (~3 oz)
2–3 scallions, chopped
Ingredients For biscuit topping
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp honey
furikake
Procedure
To make the miso honey butter, whisk together the softened butter, miso, and honey. Transfer to a serving dish and keep at room temperature.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, curry powder, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
Use a box grater to grate in the frozen butter, tossing together with the dry ingredients as you go, to avoid clumps. Then toss the butter and dry ingredients together gently so each shaving of butter is separated and coated with the dry ingredients.
Stir up your Greek yogurt to be an even consistency. If it is super thick, add a teaspoon of water to thin it out.
In a small bowl, toss the cheese and scallions so they are evenly combined. Add these to the dough base and toss together until ingredients are evenly distributed. Create a well in the center. Pour yogurt in the well, then use a fork to slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet yogurt. Once all the yogurt is absorbed, use your hands to gather the dough together and fold it on itself a few times until it is a cohesive dough.
Preheat your oven to 425°F.
You will be creating layers in the biscuits by doing three sets of letter folds; you will also want to keep everything as cold as you can, so work quickly with cold hands. Dust your work surface with flour and do so generously throughout the process as needed to prevent sticking. Shape the dough into a rectangle with your hands then roll it out until roughly 9” wide by 12” tall. Fold down the top third and then fold up the bottom third (like you would fold a letter). Rotate 90 degrees and repeat the shaping and folding. Rotate again then do the process one more time, so you have done 3 sets of letter folds total.
Roll out your dough to a little larger than 9” x 12” one more time. Using a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 biscuits by pushing the cutter firmly through the dough and then lifting it straight up each time—you should hear a satisfying *whoosh* as the cutter goes through the dough—and do not twist the cutter. (I was able to fold the scraps gently together and make an additional 2 square biscuits. Alternatively, you could also just cut the slab of dough into 12 square biscuits if you choose.)
Place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking tray and freeze them for 10 minutes. Combine the water and honey in a small bowl, microwave for 10 seconds, and mix together to form a thin glaze. Brush the glaze on the tops of the biscuits, then sprinkle furikake on top.
Bake for 15–17 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and starting to brown on their tops. They should feel structurally sound and not deflate when removed from the oven; if you notice them doing so, quickly put them back in the oven for a couple more minutes.
Serve the biscuits fresh from the oven alongside the miso honey butter.