If dessert isn't something that comes to mind when you think of Sushi then you probably haven't been to Jinpachi (West Hollywood, CA).  Jinpachi also offers something not often found in a sushi restaurant - a world-class pastry chef. Pastry Chef Tomo trained under Sherry Yard at Spago. Chef Tomo's classic French training meshes perfectly with her Japanese sense of taste and whimsy, resulting in desserts as Japanese Cheesecake and Passion Fruit Soup with Green Tea Jello and Coconut Sorbet.  Today Chef Tomo shares her treasured Japanese Cheesecake recipe.  She describes the cheesecake as a "Soufflé type of cheesecake" and offers the following advice for preparing it:  "If the surface of the cake becomes too dark while baking, cover with a piece of tin foil but be careful not to open the oven door until it has been in the oven for at least 20 minutes. It's easier to remove the cake from the tine if you insert a knife around the cake while it is hot, however don't remove the cake yet it will collapse if left to cool."  

Japanese Cheesecake

From: Pastry Chef Tomoko Okabe, Jinpachi (West Hollywood, CA)

7inch - 18cm
350F / Bake at Water Bath

• 2 Cups Cream cheese (Room Temp)
• 4 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tbsp plus 1 Tsp Parmesan Cheese
• 4 Tbsp Bread Flour
• 2 Egg yolks
• 3/4 Cup Milk
• 6 Egg Whites
• 3 Tbsp plus 1 Tsp Sugar (for Egg white)
• 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
  

Soften the cream cheese with sugar in a bowl. Add yolk, Parmesan cheese, sifted bread flour, milk, and lemon juice and combine together. Place the egg whites in a large bowl, whisking them until they form stiff peaks and then keep whisking, adding 3 Tbsp and 1 Tsp sugar and continuing whisking until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Fold the half of the mixture to the prepared tin and level the surface. Put the tin into a larger roasting tin and create a Bain Marie by pouring boiling water in the roasting tin. Bake in the lower shelf in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Leave in the tin until cool enough to handle. Let it cool in refrigerator.

About Jinpachi

In 2006, Chef Hirotaka "Taka" Fujita opened Jinpachi Sushi Restaurant . The name, Jinpachi, honors Chef Taka's grandfather, also a sushi master who practiced his art in Japan. Chef Taka himself has lent his talents to the best sushi restaurants in the United States -- Nobu Malibu, Takao and Nishimura. With Jinpachi, Chef Taka has combined five generations of Japanese ancient sushi knowledge with hands-on experience of what sushi lover's today desire.  Chef Taka is passionate about serving only the highest quality ingredients and is fiercely selective of what he sends over the rich, dark cherry wood counter of Jinpachi's intimate, homey environment. Both his loyal following and band of new devotees appreciate Chef Taka's classic sushi and sashimi made with the finest, freshest fish possible. Jinpachi also offers a world-class pastry chef. Pastry Chef Tomo to provide amazing Japanese inspired desserts.