Thai green curried pineapple

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Phil Fanning's molecular pineapple dessert recipe serves up a host of ingenious elements. To conjure the spheres, gels and crisps you will need some expert equipment - so don't dive in to making this molecular dessert (based on a Thai green curry) without reading the recipe through. For more information on spherification, read our how to spherify article.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pineapple marinade

Curry sphere juice

Alginate solution to make the spheres

  • 1.6g of xanthan gum
  • 2.5g of sodium alginate
  • 6g of calcium lactate
  • 500ml of mineral water

Foam

Coconut ice cream

  • 325g of milk
  • 50g of egg yolk
  • 100g of sugar
  • 10 cardamom pods
  • 325g of coconut purée
  • 50g of Malibu
  • 20g of milk powder
  • 1 gelatine leaf

Doughnuts

  • 37g of sugar
  • 75g of milk
  • 50g of yeast
  • 225g of T45 flour
  • 50g of egg yolk
  • 30g of butter, melted but not hot
  • 1/2 lime, zested
  • 5g of coconut, dried
  • 4g of salt

Coconut sugar

  • 200g of coconut, dried
  • 300g of caster sugar

Coriander crisp

Coconut crisps

  • 180g of icing sugar
  • 40ml of Malibu
  • 1 coconut

Coconut gel

  • 1000g of coconut purée
  • 175g of caster sugar
  • 12g of agar agar

Equipment

  • Hand blender
  • Deep fat fryer
  • Ice cream maker
  • Food mixer fitted with a dough hook
  • Thermometer
  • Sous vide equipment
  • NO2 cartridges
  • iSi whip

Method

1
To prepare the marinade for the pineapple, remove the ends of the chilli and roughly chop (if you don't like a lot of heat, slice lengthways and remove the seeds by scraping along the inside with your knife). Roughly dice the lemongrass and extract the seeds from the cardamom pods. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and blitz
2
Remove the pineapple skin and outer layer (including the buds on the surface of the fruit). Slice into long, 1cm thick slices
3
Tip the marinade into a vac pac bag and add the pineapple. Remove the air from the bag, either in a vacuum chamber or by squeezing out the air, seal and leave to marinate for 2 days
4
To prepare the ingredients for the curry spheres, remove the seeds from the green chillies and blanch the flesh in boiling water for 30 seconds. Combine the remaining ingredients in a liquidiser and blitz to create a juice. Set aside in fridge until ready to use
5
To prepare the ice cream, bring the milk to a simmer in a pan. Whisk the egg yolk with the sugar and slowly add the hot milk to the mix to create the custard base. Crush the cardamon pods under the flat of your knife and add the seeds to the base. Mix the custard with the coconut purée
6
Place the combined mixture back on the stove and simmer for 1 hour until reduced
7
Add the Malibu and milk powder to the custard. Bloom the gelatine in cold water and add to the ice cream base, stirring to dissolve. Strain the mix through a sieve lined with muslin and leave to set in the fridge for at least 12 hours
  • 50g of Malibu
  • 20g of milk powder
  • 1 gelatine leaf
8
To prepare the doughnut dough, mix the sugar, milk and yeast with a whisk. Add to the mixing bowl of a food mixer and attach a dough paddle, then add the flour and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolks and beat until elastic
  • 37g of sugar
  • 75g of milk
  • 50g of yeast
  • 225g of T45 flour
  • 50g of egg yolk
9
Slowly add the butter, lime zest and dried coconut. Once the butter has been absorbed, add the salt, and, once well combined, cover with plastic and leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Once rested, flatten the dough out to make a 2cm thick sheet and return to the fridge until ready to cook
10
To prepare the foam, begin by preparing a simple sugar syrup. Bring the sugar, pineapple juice and ginger to the boil over a medium heat. Add the cardamom (seeds only) and simmer for 15 minutes
11
Strain through a sieve into 230g of the curry sphere juice and the milk. Whisk in the lecithin, cover with cling film and place in the fridge until ready to use
  • 100g of milk
  • 15g of lecithin
12
To prepare the gel, blitz the sugar and coconut purée using a stick blender. While blending, slowly add the agar agar powder until dissolved. Set the gel in the fridge until ready to use
  • 1000g of coconut purée
  • 12g of agar agar
  • 175g of caster sugar
13
Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 2
14
For the coconut crisps, use a hand blender or whisk to combine the icing sugar and Malibu. Crack the coconut and peel strips of the white flesh with a peeler. Lightly coat the strips of coconut in the Malibu mix and bake until golden brown
  • 40ml of Malibu
  • 180g of icing sugar
  • 1 coconut
15
To prepare the coriander chlorophyll for the coriander crisps, purée the coriander leaves in a blender and pass through a sieve until you are left with a green liquid. Heat the liquid to approximately 85°C to split the chlorophyll from the water, and add to a J-cloth or double layer of muslin cloth. Squeeze out the liquid until you are left with a bright green, heat-stable coriander paste
16
For the coriander crisps, combine the Malibu, 90g of coriander chlorophyll and icing sugar. Using a spoon, arrange thin strips of the liquid on a baking tray and bake until golden brown
  • 90g of icing sugar
  • 20g of Malibu
17
Once ready to serve, remove the pineapple from the fridge (keeping the bag intact) and cook for 45-60 minutes at 63°C in a water bath. Remove and slice into oblongs
18
To prepare the curry spheres, gently toss together the xanthan gum and sodium alginate. Slowly, with a whisk, add the xanthan/alginate mixture to 400g of the curry juice
  • 1.6g of xanthan gum
  • 2.5g of sodium alginate
19
Combine 250ml of distilled water and the calcium lactate in a bowl, then add the remaining water to a separate bowl (the second bowl is to wash the calcium solution off the spheres)
  • 6g of calcium lactate
  • 500ml of mineral water
20
Fill a teaspoon with the curry juice and carefully drop into the calcium solution. Use the same method to drop the rest of the juice into the solution. The curry juice should form spheres in the calcium solution. Scoop the spheres from the solution and wash off the calcium in the bowl of distilled water. Place on a piece of kitchen paper to dry (if you are using the spheres later or the day after, cover in a container and refrigerate)
21
Remove the ice cream base from the fridge and pour into an ice cream maker. Churn according to manufacturer's instructions, then remove from the churner and store in the freezer until ready to use
22
Remove the doughnut dough from the refrigerator and use a pastry cutter to cut the dough into individual portions. Roll into small balls and cover with cling film, leave in a warm space to prove for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the dried coconut and caster sugar to form the coconut sugar
  • 200g of coconut, dried
  • 300g of caster sugar
23
Deep-fry the doughnuts at 180°C until golden, then drain and roll in the coconut sugar
24
Remove the foam mix from the fridge and pour into an ISI whip. Charge with an N20 cartridge and shake vigorously (you can leave this in the fridge for up to 2 hours before releasing the pressure to create the foam)
25
Once ready to assemble, place 2 rectangular slices of pineapple onto each plate. On each piece of pineapple, place one doughnut, a piece of set gel and a coconut crisp. Place a sphere of the curry juice next to each piece of pineapple. Add a portion of gel to each plate and a scoop of ice cream with a spray of foam. Decorate the plates with micro coriander and basil before serving
First published in 2015

Phil Fanning remains one of the brightest, most interesting chefs of the British food scene, creating beautiful, intricate plates of food at the magnificent Paris House in Woburn Abbey.

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