Here’s the perfect icy dessert to help you endure our hot Australian summer days and nights . This colourful sorbet is among the scrumptious recipes in new cookbook, Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class (Murdoch Books). This collection of fantastic, exotic recipes from the masterchef will undoubtedly be a hit with family and friends this festive season. Give it a try!
A stunning late-summer dessert that’s not only delicious but pretty simple to make if you happen to have an ice-cream churner. If you don’t, you can always turn the sorbet into a granita. The following recipe may not sound terribly Asian – I have yet to come across an Asian recipe using rhubarb, and I have two – but I do know that it features in traditional Chinese medicine, which I feel is just enough of a link to justify me including it here. The beauty of this dessert, apart from the refreshing flavours, is that it can all be made ahead, which if you’re hosting gives you plenty of time to enjoy the moment. Traditionally, sago is a starch made from the pith of palm stems, but these days it’s often made from tapioca. Buy it in Asian grocers.
Serves 8
RHUBARB SORBET
Ingredients
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) rhubarb, cut into 2 cm (¾ inch) pieces
¾–1 cup (165–220 g) caster (superfine) sugar, to taste
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons glucose or corn syrup
1 teaspoon rosewater, or to taste
SAGO
¼ cup (50 g) sago
½ cup (110 g) caster (superfine) sugar
400 ml (14 fl oz) coconut milk
BOOZY WATERMELON
600 g (1 lb 5 oz) watermelon, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
½ cup (125 ml gin)
Method
For the rhubarb sorbet, place the rhubarb in a saucepan with sugar, cardamom, a pinch of salt and 600 ml (21 fl oz) water. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer, then cook until the rhubarb is falling apart (about 10 minutes). Turn off the heat and cover to infuse for 20 minutes. Transfer to a blender, blitz to a purée, then pass through a fine sieve. Stir in the glucose and rosewater, and refrigerate until cool. Once cooled, churn in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container and freeze until ready to serve. For the sago, bring a litre (4 cups) water to a rolling boil in a saucepan. Slowly dribble the sago into the water, boil for 7 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Remove from the heat and stand, covered, for 20 minutes to allow the sago to turn completely transparent. Strain in a fine sieve and wash off excess starch under cold running water. Refrigerate until needed. Meanwhile, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and ½ cup (125 ml) water in a small saucepan, bring it to the boil and swirl until dissolved. Cool, then refrigerate until needed. For the boozy watermelon, an hour before serving, mix the watermelon with the sugar and gin and chill for an hour. To serve, stir the sago, sugar syrup and coconut milk together in a bowl, then place 2–3 tablespoons of it in each cocktail glass. Top with a scoop of rhubarb sorbet and cubes of boozy watermelon to serve.
Images and text from Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class by Tony Tan, photography by Mark Roper. Murdoch Books RRP $59.99.
Omg the sorbet dessert sounds fabulous.