Japanese caramel custard pudding is called “Purin”. It is similar to the classic creme caramel or flan. Purin calls for only a few ingredients and is easy to make. No special and oriental ingredients nor equipment required. So people outside of Japan can easily cook Japanese sweets right at home!
What is Purin?
Purin is a poplar Japanese custard dessert loved by both children and adults. This dessert in Japan is called “custard purin” not “pudding” because the way you pronounce an ‘r’ in Japanese sounds a bit like a ‘d’. It is so popular that you can buy them from any supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan. And this is the recipe for us not living in Japan but who still want to taste delicious Japanese sweets at home.
How to make caramel sauce?
You need sugar and water to make caramel sauce for Purin. Place sugar and pour water in a small saucepan over medium heat. It is not hard to make but you need to get a few things correctly.
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- Dissolve the sugar and do not stir.
- The water colour will start to change at 8-10 minutes, when it changes beautiful amber colour, turn the heat off. Because it keeps cooking and if you miss the timing you might burn the caramel.
Egg Mixture
Obviously, the name “Purin” is from the word pudding. But the pudding in western countries and Japanese purin are quite different, they are not the same thing. Japanese pudding “Purin” is more like creme caramel and flan. Japanese custard pudding is very smooth. So when mixing eggs, sugar and milk, it needs to be strained before pouring the mixture into the pudding molds.
Ingredients balance
The texture and flavour hang in a delicate balance of three ingredients; eggs, sugar and milk. So it is critical to use the right amount of each ingredient. Eggs make the Purin set, but we don’t want too much eggy taste. The sugar amount decides firmness of the purin. The fat content of the milk affects the richness of purin flavour.
Milk
For the rich flavour and to support local dairy farmers, I use Norco brand 100% jersey milk. It has 4.9g of total fat in 100ml. I like this milk even just drinking it on its own is delicious. It is so creamy and makes the best Japanese purin in my humble opinion. If you don’t live in Australia, and can’t get this milk, use full-fat milk at least.
How to set the Purin?
The technique to set the purin is called a bain marie. It is fancy name for hot water bath. And we are going to use this method with a frying pan and a lid or use a large pot with a lid. The custard is set in low and gentle heat. I used 26cm (10 inch) frying pan and mold size is 7 cm ( 2.7 inch ) in diameter, 6 cm (2.3 inch) in height. It required about 750ml- 1 litre boiling water to add so that the water covers about 2cm from the bottom of the pan.
Place molds filled with egg mixture into the frying pan. If you place a kitchen cloth underneath, the molds will not move around easily but you need to add an extra minute to cook. Pour water and bring it to boil, then turn the heat down to low and place a lid with kitchen cloth in between in order to avoid steam water drops on top of the purin. The cloth will catch the water.
Turn the heat off after 3-5 minutes on very low heat. Do not open the lid, keep it intact for 15 minutes. In this way even after the heat is turned off, the egg mixture will be cooking with the residual heat in the pan. We want to avoid the egg mixture from overcooking and becoming spongy and porous.
How to serve Japanese Purin
Japanese purin tastes best when it’s cold. You can serve Japanese Purin out of the molds or you can also serve it in jars like the above photos on the right. Both ways the caramel sauce goes the bottom of the molds or jars. I recommend making it an hour or so before you want to serve it so it can chill in the fridge.
FAQ
Q: Can I replace milk with almond/rice/hazelnut milk?
A: Yes, you can but remember fat content of the regular milk adds to the rich flavour.
Q: I don’t have a cooking scale?
A: You can choose metric or US measurements. Just click which you will use underneath the ingredients list in the recipe card. You can also change the servings as well. Click the serving number, a sliding scale appears so you just slide it left or right.
If you liked The Purin recipe and instructions, please rate it and leave a comment below, and also check out Japanese sweets such as Dorayaki, and Mochi Ice cream!
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Purin
Equipment
Ingredients
Custard Base
- 400 ml milk
- 3 large eggs
- 60 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Caramel Sauce
- 70 g sugar
- 50 ml water
Instructions
Caramel Sauce
- Place the sugar and water (for the caramel sauce) in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Keep cooking over medium heat till the sugar and water mixture turns into a beautiful amber colour.
- Turn the heat off and pour the sauce into 4 pudding molds.
Custard base
- Place milk in a jug and microwave for a 1 a minute and a half to heat the milk up.
- Add the egg, sugar and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and whisk all together.
- Add warm milk into the egg mixture gradually and stir to combine them all together.
- Strain the custard base using a sieve or strainer.
- Divide and pour the custard mixture into the 4 pudding molds (on top of the caramel sauce).
- Place the molds in a shallow flying pan and add about 750-1000ml water over high heat.
- Bring it to boil then turn the heat down to low, wrap the pan lid in a dry towel and put the lid on and leave it for simmer for 3-5 minutes. *1
- Turn the heat off and leave it for 15 minutes( do not open the lid).
- Take the molds out of the frying pan and allow them cool down.
- Refrigerate the molds for at least 1 hour.
- Serve it on a plate.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Ariel says
My pudding never set…I have been repeating the boil>low heat>off for the 4th time now. ): I am sad and frustrated waiting for it to be set.
Sally says
I have had some dismal failures making the caramel for crepe caramel.. your tips are going to change all that, 🙏🏽 glad you’re getting to see your son after so long under restrictions.
Jasmine Zhu says
I’ve made this a number of times, adjusting cook time/temperature just slightly to suit smaller ramekins, and it’s always smooth and jiggly! My family loves eating it and it reminds them of steamed egg since we’re Chinese, but with delicious caramel flavour.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Jasmine 😀
Evelin says
Hi! Great recipe! I wondered if there is a sugar free version of it? 🤔
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Evelin, I have not tried myself but you can replace sugar with xylitol etc.
Nexus Mcphee says
Hey I am thinking of making this but on Leto can I use stivia instead of sugar
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Do you mean Keto? Yes you can.
Joy says
Thank you for sharing this easy way of making a classic “Japanese”dessert that I just love. I’ve been through failures using the bain marie method and just love the simplicity and economy of making it on the stove. It saves me from lighting the large oven and wasting energy.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Thank you Joy 😀
Cat Ly says
Thank you for the recipe! I’ve made it 3 times already, and it’s SO delicious.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Ohhh you are welcome 😀
栗 says
No matter what I do, the caramel sauce turns into hard candy at the bottom of the ramekins. I pour it when it just begins to change color, and while it is still hot. It will not soften even after the purin is cooked, nor after it is set by chilling. How do I make it soft?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi 栗 did you add the water at the end? though it is quite hard and how it is.
Wibi says
So, should we pour the water at the earlier or at the end after we get the beautiful color of caramel?
My caramel got hard like a stone either
Luke says
Add 20ml of boiling (make sure it is as hot as possible) water after it reaches the desired colour and immediately swirl the pan. It will sizzle and bubble a bit violently, but shouldn’t splash out of the pan. Just be careful. Then you will end up with a more watery sauce.
May says
Hi, this looks great! Are these purin freezeable?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi May no, because of the egg used.
Mrs Nakajima says
My sons were picky eaters and underweight when babies, and my husband described his favorite treat when he was a child as custard pudding in caramel sauce with a dollop of whipped cream topped with a maraschino cherry served at Japanese restaurants when he ‘ate out’ with his father . Personally, in my childhood, I didn’t like any ‘eggy’ foods, such as plain eggs, egg salad, egg nog, or even custard, or custard pie. I made chawanmushi in an acorn squash when I was first married, and my husband was happy with the effort. So, I experimented (and sometimes purchased pudding powder) to find an easy recipe for custard for my little babies, and they were quite receptive. In summer, I froze the custards in little containers for ‘pudding pops’. That was several decades ago, and they have no problem with being underweight, but are quite healthy. Lately, I’ve been experimenting to find a nice ratio of sweetened condensed milk, plain non-fat yogurt and eggs for custard pie. Sometimes I add lemon or lime or cocoanut flakes. However, had I run across this recipe years ago, I would’ve saved alot of time in experimenting. is quite nice and simple. And, I can still add a dollop of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top, or serve with chopped mango.
Iris Hanni says
Hello! I’m having trouble with the caramel sauce, does it have to be a nonstick pan? I’m a bored teen at home trying to make something new ^^`
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Iris, no I don’t use non stick pan, but you need to pour into the ramekins while it’s hot. Be careful not to burn yourself.
Eva Lou says
i mean, i did make caramel at home before using a sauce pan, but afterwards, the sugar stuck to the pan, and i had to soak it in hot water to dissolve the sugar, so the clean up is definitely a bit more work. but a sauce pan could work as well!
Alicia Chong says
Hi Shihoko
Great recipe! Looks simple enough to follow.
Can I put small cubes of fresh mangoes in the mixture before the bain marie process?
Thank you!
Alicia
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Alicia, you can but I am not sure if the flavour combination goes well or not.
Alicia Chong says
Oh ok. Noted with thanks! 🙂
Jerome says
Very nice recipe😊thank you
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Jerome 😀
Andrea says
Can you use 1 big bowl insead of small ramekins? My kid wants a “giga pudding” but I wanted to make it from scratch.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
HI Andrea, yes you can but you need to adjust cooking time 😀
Maddie says
I’ll be making this the third time today since when ive made it before it was well received by family! I did it once following your recipe exactly and then another time i put early grey in it too. Today im going to see what happens when i use lavender syrup from monin (since i cant buy any from the lady i normally buy it from). I know its not following how its supposed to be made, but i love experimenting with the flavors. I might try putting matcha just to see, too! But youre recipe is literally so good thats why i can experiment since the base is so good :))
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
That’s fantastic Maddie, Keep experimenting with the flavour. Please let me know if you find any other great flavour to add. I would be appreciative if you would give the recipe 5 stars. Thanks again for your comment.
Irene says
Made this and it turned out great. Didnt have molds so i used medium size tea cups🤣. Will be making for friend and family soon
Thank you Shihoko
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Irene for making Purin with my recipe 😀
Helen says
Hi, do you know what wattage your microwave needs to be to warm the milk? Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Helen I think my microwave default is set to be 1000w.
Jenny says
Can I use small mason jars if I don’t have the pudding moulds?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jenny yes you can or use ramekins
Baby Yoda says
Just like the Chronicles of Narnia
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
? Does Prin appear in the movie?
Bodie says
Thank you for the recipe. It turned out great!
The next time I make this, I will probably add a little more caramel. The pudding was sweet enough but I cannot get enough of that bitter, slightly burnt flavor of caramel.
Oh, and I guess I shouldn’t use double walled containers too…
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Bodie 😀