LOS ANGELES _ Pastry chef Dyan Ng's pan-roasted honey brioche isn't just new; it's revolutionary. She created it for the brunch menu at Auburn "to give people something different that they've never tried before."
"As a cook, I don't want to be showy, but I always want to do something different," Ng says.
Ng cites Auburn and its surroundings as her inspiration. When Eric Bost was opening the restaurant on Melrose Avenue, he called Ng, then the pastry chef at Michael Mina's restaurant in Baltimore's Four Seasons hotel. Bost said, "Hey, I'm looking for a pastry chef. Do you know any?" Ng immediately replied, "Yeah, me, chef."
She was excited for the opportunity to return to L.A., where she had moved from the Philippines as a child. She stayed to start her culinary career after high school before going to Las Vegas to cook in the kitchens of Alain Ducasse, Francois Payard and Guy Savoy. Those years of intense training in French techniques gave Ng the skills and freedom to create original takes on classics, like this brioche.
Ng first developed a formula for a milkless brioche extra rich in butter and eggs so it wouldn't taste like pain au lait. And though the brioche was delicious, she said, "It was just a delicious French bread." She then caramelized the top of the loaf with honey butter while it baked but wanted the bread to be more tender all the way through. So she decided to cook the dough completely on the stove while basting it with honey butter.
"I hadn't seen this technique before, but I can't say it hasn't been done," Ng said. "Honestly, I didn't think it would work, but I nailed it on the first try." Ng then went on to perfect it. To achieve just-right tenderness in stovetop pan-roasting while creating layers of flavor, she landed on putting the rich dough through five stages of proofing over three days.
I didn't know any of that when I first tasted it. I just knew I wanted to find out what Ng was doing throughout brunch service. My seat faced Ng's pastry station and I couldn't stop staring. Framed by the floor-to-ceiling glass door between the open kitchen and dining room, Ng stood over a portable burner and kept swirling a skillet with a small golden dome peeking over the lip of the pan as it slid around. Now and then, she'd spoon sauce over the slowly ballooning top with the circling arm swoop of a meat cook basting a steak. Even from my perspective some 20 feet away, I could see Ng's focus and calm. I wanted what she was having.
The brioche itself, yes, but also the process of making it. The final step happens tableside, when Ng pours honey-butter caramel all over the deeply browned brioche. Over that sugary aroma is a sourdough tang and the kind of cultured-butter scent that borders on cheese.
It's all very confusing until you take a bite. It has the yeasty depth of sourdough without the self-righteous austerity, the buttery richness of brioche with an almost custardy egginess, the welcome bitter edge of dark caramel seeping into the bread and running all over the plate.
Ng's years of mastering French pastry are clear in this brilliant technique that's actually easy to execute even if it takes days. The genius is in its simplicity. Her technical skills translate into just-right proportions of five ingredients that yield foolproof dough, and the two-night proofing ensures the bread stays tender on the stovetop while holding its shape and caramelizing to a dark brown.
Testing this recipe at home over the weeks that the coronavirus changed this city and country, I found that it not only worked perfectly every time in every variation but also provided a welcome peace.
At each non-proofing stage, this brioche demands your attention and rewards it with sensory pleasure. The dough slaps the mixer bowl with a steady low thwap, thwap, thwap. When you gather the soft mass into a ball, its silky stretch delivers a deep tactile joy. So too does cutting and shaping the cool smooth dough into rounds. You can inhale its yeasty scent whether it's baking or cooking on the stove. With the latter, you enter zen mode, watching the dough slowly poof as you baste it with honey butter that bubbles and darkens into caramel. You have to be present in every sense. In our current state, it's a wonderful place to be.
Ng is back in Auburn's kitchen preparing desserts for its takeout meals. She's worried about her family in the Philippines, but she's grateful to be in the restaurant, which feels like a second home. Reflecting on all that's changed since Auburn's last brunch service, Ng said, "I think there's going to be a different connection for me when I'm cooking. I just want my food to be more nurturing."
This brioche definitely is, in taste and in the baking process. Ng didn't create it for these times, but it's exactly what we need now.
