STARANISE STRAWBERRIES MARINATED IN RED WINE WITH COCONUT MOCHI

2 min read

The Chinese culinary repertoire isn’t really that well known for its dessert offerings.The concept of ending a meal with a pudding is relatively new to china，and one that i think derives from Western cultural influences.If anything，sweet things are usually incorporated into the main meal and therefore eaten together with the savoury elements.The idea may perturb you，but I have had many meals where i have seen cakes and chicken feet sitting side by side one another，being consumed in alternate mouthfuls.I am also，however，witnessing an increasing wave of Western restaurants that now blur the line between the savoury and thesweet/dessert domain，with pastry chefs now drawing beetroot，chilli and so on into their particular sphere of operation in the kitchen.My own take on desserts is very simple：they should have sweetness，they should not be overly complicated in taste profile and，most importantly they should aim to please not challenge the palate.These marinated strawberries are the reason why we have desserts in this world.They can be eaten alone，with ice cream or with any other creamy substance，and will be just as delicious

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

24 strawberries，hulled and halved iflarge

For the coconut mochi

100g caster sugar，plus 1 teaspoon

100ml water

500ml coconut milk

125ml full-fat milk

125ml double cream

For the marinade

150ml red wine

50ml Chinese plum wine

150g caster sugar

1 star anise

To serve

pandan jelly，chopped

seeds and juice of 2 passion fruit

candy floss

deep-fried mint leaves

1. For the coconut mochi，place 100g sugar with the water in a saucepan and bring to the boil stirring until the sugar has dissolved.Continue to boil for 8 minutes until slightly thickened Leave to cool

2.Bring the coconut milk，milk，cream and 1 teaspoon sugar to a simmer in a saucepan over a medium heat then leave to cool

3.add the cooled sugar syrup to the cooled coconut mixture and then churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions Store in the freezer until ready to serve

4. For the marinade, bring all the ingredients to the boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved

5. Simmer until the mixture has reduced by half, then pour over the strawberries in a bowl and leave to marinate at room temperature

6. To serve, arrange the strawberries, nuggets of the coconut mochi and the chopped pandan jelly on a spoonful of passion fruit seeds and juice. Finish with a cloud of candy floss and decorate with deep-fried mint leaves, if you like

CHEFS TIP

Do not leave the strawberries in the marinade for too long as they will begin to swell and go rather mushy. The ideal marinating time is 30 minutes, but you could cut this by half and serve more of the red wine reduction when plating up, which will give the impression that the berries have been marinated for longer