Happy Lunar New Year to those of you who celebrate! I hope you are eating like you should! I suppose I should be posting something Vietnamese and traditional but I don't always do what I should. Touche I know! So here is something I first made a long time ago but didn't take any photos. It's my playing around with Pierre Herme's recipe. Well, I wanted to stick to the original one but it's impossible to find passion fruits this time of year in this state, in this country! Also, I felt that the color of passion fruits makes the whole dish somewhat dull. So I used chunks of raspberries, and it looks much brighter, like this:
I also followed his recipe the first time I made the soup, but realized that it was too rich, so I made some modification to it. Here's my version.
THE CROQUETTES
INGREDIENTS:
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, preferrably Valrhona Guanaja, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1 sliver habanero pepper (if you want some heat)
3 large eggs, 1 at room temperature
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 Tsp sugar
Very finely grated unsweetened dried coconut*
*Bob's Red Mill coconut flakes come in packages that say they are produced in facilities that contain gluten so if you are strongly allergic to gluten, make sure you get the GF coconut flakes.
METHOD:
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Keep the chocolate until it is warm to the touch.
Melt the butter, with the pepper, in a small saucepan. Discard the pepper and keep the butter.
Gently whisk together the room temperature egg, the egg yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl, try not to beat in air. Gently stir in the chocolate, then the butter. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until it is cold and firm. Once the ganache is cooled, it can be covered and refrigerated overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the remaining 2 eggs in a small bowl. Pour the coconut into another bowl. Remove the ganache from the refrigerator and, using a spoon, scoop out enough to make a ball about 1inch in diameter. Make them too large and you won't get the warm, melting centers later. Dunk the chocolate balls into the beaten egg, then roll around in the coconut to coat it well, then place it on the lined baking sheet. Continue until you run out of ganache. There should be around 24 croquettes. Place the sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Set the beaten egg and coconut aside.
When the croquettes are set, give them another coating of egg and coconut. Don't skip this step or you might have chocolate melting into the hot oil later. Return them to the freezer for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer. Once frozen, they can be wrapped airtight and kept frozen in the fridge for up to 1 month.
THE GINGER CONFIT
INGREDIENTS:
1 knob of ginger, peeled.
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
METHOD:
Cut the ginger into thin strands. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, add the strands of ginger, reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook the ginger for about 20 minutes. Cool, and pack in a covered jar.
THE TAPIOCA SOUP
Make 3 servings of 2 croquettes each
INGREDIENTS:
1cup whole milk
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp lime zest
1 1/2 Tsp tapioca pearls (in his recipe, PH calls for large ones, I had small ones at hand so I used them)
4 oz unsweetened coconut cream
METHOD:
Bring the milk, sugar, lime zest to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the tapioca pearls, stir and bring the mixture back to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stir, turn the heat off and cover for another 10 minutes. The pearls should be cooked by now. If you use large pearls, you might have to play with cooking time. Add the coconut cream. Stir well. The mixture should be fairly thick. I do like it a little on the runnier side though. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
TO ASSEMBLE
INGREDIENTS:
Oil, enough for deep-frying
Raspberries
METHOD:
Pour the oil into a deep pot and heat to about 350ºF. Meanwhile, divide the chilled tapioca soups evenly among 3 shallow dishes (or you could be like me and use martini glasses instead). Break the raspberries into chunks and sprinkle around. Place 3 layers of paper towel on a plate close to the stove.
When the oil is hot, drop a few croquettes into the pot and fry them until they are golden brown. It should not take longer than 3 minutes. (If the croquettes were frozen for more than 6 hours, my experience indicates that removing them from the freezer about 30 minutes before you are ready to fry them creates nice soft centers.) Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, remove them from the oil and place them on the paper towels. Fry the rest of the croquettes that you need.
For each serving, put 2 croquettes over the tapioca soup. (The thicker soup holds the croquettes better.) Scatter a few pieces of ginger confit and some of the syrup. Serve immediately.
These croquettes should be a crowd pleaser! Or maybe I only befriend people who love chocolate! Anyway, you should give them a try. The one great thing about this dessert is that everything can be prepared in advance except the frying.
THE CROQUETTES
INGREDIENTS:
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, preferrably Valrhona Guanaja, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1 sliver habanero pepper (if you want some heat)
3 large eggs, 1 at room temperature
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 Tsp sugar
Very finely grated unsweetened dried coconut*
*Bob's Red Mill coconut flakes come in packages that say they are produced in facilities that contain gluten so if you are strongly allergic to gluten, make sure you get the GF coconut flakes.
METHOD:
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Keep the chocolate until it is warm to the touch.
Melt the butter, with the pepper, in a small saucepan. Discard the pepper and keep the butter.
Gently whisk together the room temperature egg, the egg yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl, try not to beat in air. Gently stir in the chocolate, then the butter. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until it is cold and firm. Once the ganache is cooled, it can be covered and refrigerated overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the remaining 2 eggs in a small bowl. Pour the coconut into another bowl. Remove the ganache from the refrigerator and, using a spoon, scoop out enough to make a ball about 1inch in diameter. Make them too large and you won't get the warm, melting centers later. Dunk the chocolate balls into the beaten egg, then roll around in the coconut to coat it well, then place it on the lined baking sheet. Continue until you run out of ganache. There should be around 24 croquettes. Place the sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Set the beaten egg and coconut aside.
When the croquettes are set, give them another coating of egg and coconut. Don't skip this step or you might have chocolate melting into the hot oil later. Return them to the freezer for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer. Once frozen, they can be wrapped airtight and kept frozen in the fridge for up to 1 month.
THE GINGER CONFIT
INGREDIENTS:
1 knob of ginger, peeled.
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
METHOD:
Cut the ginger into thin strands. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, add the strands of ginger, reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook the ginger for about 20 minutes. Cool, and pack in a covered jar.
THE TAPIOCA SOUP
Make 3 servings of 2 croquettes each
INGREDIENTS:
1cup whole milk
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp lime zest
1 1/2 Tsp tapioca pearls (in his recipe, PH calls for large ones, I had small ones at hand so I used them)
4 oz unsweetened coconut cream
METHOD:
Bring the milk, sugar, lime zest to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the tapioca pearls, stir and bring the mixture back to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture back to a boil, stir, turn the heat off and cover for another 10 minutes. The pearls should be cooked by now. If you use large pearls, you might have to play with cooking time. Add the coconut cream. Stir well. The mixture should be fairly thick. I do like it a little on the runnier side though. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
TO ASSEMBLE
INGREDIENTS:
Oil, enough for deep-frying
Raspberries
METHOD:
Pour the oil into a deep pot and heat to about 350ºF. Meanwhile, divide the chilled tapioca soups evenly among 3 shallow dishes (or you could be like me and use martini glasses instead). Break the raspberries into chunks and sprinkle around. Place 3 layers of paper towel on a plate close to the stove.
When the oil is hot, drop a few croquettes into the pot and fry them until they are golden brown. It should not take longer than 3 minutes. (If the croquettes were frozen for more than 6 hours, my experience indicates that removing them from the freezer about 30 minutes before you are ready to fry them creates nice soft centers.) Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, remove them from the oil and place them on the paper towels. Fry the rest of the croquettes that you need.
For each serving, put 2 croquettes over the tapioca soup. (The thicker soup holds the croquettes better.) Scatter a few pieces of ginger confit and some of the syrup. Serve immediately.
These croquettes should be a crowd pleaser! Or maybe I only befriend people who love chocolate! Anyway, you should give them a try. The one great thing about this dessert is that everything can be prepared in advance except the frying.
