For Ice Cream Base
- Place heavy cream in saucepan and heat to 180°.
- With a wire whisk, mix yolks, sugar and invert sugar in a large stainless bowl until creamed. Temper egg mixture with hot cream by adding one cup at a time while constantly whisking. Continue adding one cup at a time until half the hot cream has been tempered into the yolks. Add the tempered yolk mixture into the pan of hot cream and return to the heat. While constantly whisking bring the mixture up to 160°. Remove from heat and strain through a fine meshed strainer (chinois). Place mixture in an ice bath to rapidly chill.
For Wasabi Ice Cream
- Submerge basil and mint in boiling water for 5 seconds, strain out water in a china cap and ice water shock the basil and mint. Squeeze out all the water by hand. Place in a bar blender.
- Add simple syrup to bar blender and blend on high until all the leaves have been ground up into fine particles.
- In a stainless bowl combine basil /mint puree, wasabi powder and ice cream base. Stir with a wire whisk to combine well. Let mixture sit for 1 hour refrigerated to infuse the flavor. Strain thru a fine mesh strainer (chinois).
- Pour mixture into ice cream machine and turn the timer back to 25 minutes. Turn the churn button and the power button on and let ice cream begin to churn. Let ice cream churn until it has a consistency thick enough to remove with the plastic paddle spoon but not completely frozen. If the ice cream does not get to the “Soft Serve” consistency after 25 minutes, then set the timer back for an additional 5-10 minutes until it does.
- Remove ice cream and hold frozen for service.
For Unagi Balsamic Syrup
- Place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until ingredients begin to simmer (approx. 1 – 2 minutes). Once simmer is achieved, remove from heat and shallow pan cool. Hold under refrigeration for service.
To Build
- Scoop ice cream onto a frozen dessert plate. Use the back of the scoop to create a small well on the top of the ice cream.
- Ladle unagi balsamic syrup over the ice cream and in well.
- Dust the entire dish with powdered sugar.
- Sprinkle fried ginger on the ice cream, centered in the well.
Recipe created in partnership with Chef Michael Slavin, Vice President Culinary & Menu Innovations Houlihan’s Restaurants, Inc.
