Shiso Orange Ice Cream
An ice cream flavor combo you probably never triedI love shiso. You get this leaf as a garnish/decoration at many sushi restaurants. It always saddens me to see many people not touch these garnishes, in which they end up discarded. On the other hand, I savor these leaves and save them for my last or second to last bite. They’re delicious simply with rice, functioning so well as a palate cleanser. Shiso has a very earthy and bright taste with notes of citrus and mint. It kind of is like cilantro though. You either hate it or love it.
I had a whole phase where I was obsessed with making ice cream. I started with vanilla and then moved to strawberry and even Thai tea. Then I started to experiment and try interesting flavors. One of the first things I wanted to experiment with was shiso. And since it already had some citrusy notes, I thought that adding orange to the ice cream would be a perfect pairing. Happily, I loved this ice cream flavor and ever since, have made it every so often.
I used this basil/mint ice cream recipe as reference but made my own adjustments: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016617-mint-or-basil-ice-cream
Ingredients
15g shiso leaves
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
Zest from 2 oranges
2/3 cup (150g) orange juice, freshly squeezed
1.5 tablespoons orange liquor, optional
Sometimes I find that shiso leaves are sold as Ohba/Ooba. If you ever see these at the asian grocery, you found shiso leaves!
Directions
Start by pulsing together 15g shiso leaves and 2/3 cup sugar in a food processor until everything is mixed together, pulverized, and turned bright green.
Add the herb sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup milk, and a pinch of salt to a pot and heat over medium low heat. Bring to a light simmer, until the sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat.
Whisk 6 egg yolks in a separate bowl. Slowly add around 1/3-1/2 of the heated milk mixture into the egg yolks while you are constantly whisking the egg yolks. Then return everything back into the pot.
Heat the pot on medium low and gently cook while stirring frequently until the mixture reaches 170 degrees F or until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and let the custard steep for 30 minutes.
Once it is done steeping, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Add 2/3 cup orange juice and 1.5 tablespoons orange liquor. Mix, cover and then chill in the refrigerated for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once properly chilled, churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container and store in a freezer so that it hardens.
Let it rest for around 10 minutes to soften, then serve and enjoy!
I like to freeze the ice cream maker container beforehand so that everything is as cold as possible. Also, while storing the ice cream in a container, I like to cover the surface with plastic wrap and place the container in a sealed plastic bag. I believe this aids in preventing freezer burn?
What is the most interesting ice cream flavor you have ever tried?
