Orange and Szechuan Pepper Icecream

I have always enjoyed experimenting with different food combinations. Trying unusual things to see if I could find something no one else has found before. Even as a child I put strange things together as I'm sure many people did, fries and thick shakes or twisties in a buttered roll. All sorts of things I wouldn't go near now, but they tasted sooo good then.

So I'm always looking for unexpected flavours or interesting ingredients to try to match with others. One of those ingredients is Szechuan Pepper. It is an amazing condiment and looks very similar to black pepper, but has an almost floral taste and when lightly toasted gives off an amazing aroma. It also does strange things to your mouth, giving a weird sensation almost like numbness. Ever since I first used it, I've wanted to find ways of using it in non-traditional ways and today's dish is one example of that - Orange and Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream.

Now, I can't take any credit for this combination or this recipe, both are from an amazing book which I highly recommend if anyone is interested in making icecream, sorbet or frozen yoghurt. The book is called Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz. He also writes an amazing blog about living and cooking in Paris.

Before cooking anything, I prepare all the ingredients and have them ready to go.


Here's a closer shot of the Szechuan Pepper before I gave them a bit of a rough time in a mortar and pestle.


To make the custard, I combined the milk, sugar, Szechuan Pepper and the zest of a few oranges. Now speaking of zest, one of the important things if you want the flavour of the fruit and not the bitterness is not to include the white pith when zesting. The oranges looked like this:


So after bringing this mix to a light simmer, I turned off the heat and let the whole lot infuse for about an hour.

Next I heated up the milk mixture to blood temperature and poured it slowly over a bowl containing the egg yolks, while whisking them to mix it through without cooking them. Then I poured the whole lot back into the pot (technically it is best to use a fresh clean pot).
The next step takes a little practice, but I needed to gently heat the mix while constantly stirring and making sure nothing stuck to the bottom. Waiting until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, but not so hot or thick that it becomes curdled. If that happens you have to start all over again.

Once it got to this stage, I poured it, through a sieve, into a bowl containing the cream and set in an ice bath. Now it needed to be whisked until it was cool and then placed in the fridge overnight.

The next step is the easy part, pour it into the ice cream maker and churn. Once it's ready comes the hard part....freezing it and waiting....

After waiting and plating (oh look, a rhyme!) this is what it looks like.



How does it taste, you ask? Well, I did let a lot of people try it and hopefully some of them will post a comment about what they thought, but I found it refreshing and bright. The strong citrus flavour cut right through the rich and creamy texture and really had an explosion of intense, slightly bitter orange flavour. I was, however, slightly disappointed with the effect of the szechuan pepper, which I thought was lacking in both flavour and the strange mouth-confusing properties I was hoping for. This may have been due to the fact that the peppercorns I used had been sitting in my cupboard for a while or maybe the flavour would have been enhanced by toasting the pepper before mixing it in. Some of the taste did come through and added a light floral note. I would definitely make this again.

If you were one of the people who got to taste this, feel free to post a comment about what you thought of this dish.