- To make soy sauce caramel, add 1 cup of sugar to a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Heat sugar until melted, stirring regularly, 8-10 minutes. Add butter to pan and reduce heat to low. Continue to stir. Once butter melts, gradually whisk in ½ cup of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce until mixture is smooth. Turn heat off. Transfer caramel to an 8-ounce jar and cool to room temperature to thicken slightly, about 1 hour.
- To make custard, heat 2 cups of heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat for about 7 minutes until bubbles form around the sides without letting cream come to a boil. Turn heat off and whisk in vanilla bean paste and 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce caramel. Cover remaining caramel sauce and refrigerate until serving to thicken.
- While cream heats, whisk together egg yolks and remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl until color just starts to turn a creamy yellow.
- Whisk ½ cup of cream mixture slowly into egg yolk mixture to temper eggs. Gradually whisk in remaining cream mixture until fully incorporated. Strain custard mixture through a fine mesh strainer.
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place 4 ramekins in a large roasting pan and bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Ladle custard into ramekins and pour boiling water into the roasting pan about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully transfer to oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until edges of custard are set and center is slightly jiggly.
- Carefully remove ramekins from oven using a spatula or tongs and place on a wire cooling rack. Cool for 1 hour at room temperature then cover ramekins with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of custard and use a kitchen torch to lightly caramelize the tops until golden brown. Serve right away drizzled with extra soy sauce caramel.
*Note: leftover Soy Sauce Caramel can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months for drizzling on ice cream and desserts.
