Chinese Five Spice Ice Cream

When I started playing the bassoon in 8th grade I thought that maybe it would take me places. For example, perhaps it would take me to Fort Kent for All-State band, or maybe down to THE CITY for Portland Youth Symphony.

What I didn’t expect what that at 17 my bassoon and I would be spending every weekend down in Boston, playing in the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. That group took me to Taiwan and South Korea. A few years later I made my first trip to Japan, to the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo. The whole time I was traveling with Skippy peanut butter in my suitcase.

I’m not quite sure why I was scared of “different” foods growing up; I think it was just a function of geography. Our little pocket of Central Maine had an Italian restaurant, with lots of red sauce and Parmesan cheese in glass shakers. We had a “Chinese” restaurant, one of those gnarly faux-Polynesian places with Pu-Pu platters, tiki bowls, lots of breading and bowls of sticky corn syrups sauces. We didn’t have real Asian food. We didn’t have Mexican food. We didn’t have a Taco Bell and the nearest McDonalds was 25 miles off.

None of that explains why I was 14 before I realized pickles started as cucumbers.

During that trip to Sapporo, in 1993, I realized what god-damned fool I was. Here I am, in Japan, and I’m eating peanut butter for lunch. I had the privilege of being on the other side of the planet but I was strictly a bystander. I couldn’t speak the language and I wasn’t eating the food. That was that. I decided to start eating whatever, unless it truly and absolutely horrified me. Anything that seemed like a common food, I was going to try it twice.

So there. There are plenty of foods I’m not fond of- foie gras is probably the one that people raise their eyebrows over. It is just too rich for me- two bites and I’m nauseous. I can’t go too “hot” (medium salsa is pushing it) or I break into a sweat and lose my appetite. Uni… not a fan. Other than that, I’m game to try anything. Raw? Fine. Crickets? Fine. Curdled? No promises that it will go down my throat but I’m willing to give it a taste.

I’m not really sure where this is all leading, so let’s just jarringly change gears. Five Spice Ice Cream.

Five Spice is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechwan peppercorns. Any particular blend/brand of Five Spice will have it’s own essence/taste so cooking with Five Spice leads to personal results. For me, it’s a matter of “not quite enough, not quite enough, not quite NO WAIT STOP.” Too little and you don’t catch the essence, too much and it’s overwhelming.

Bryan had the idea that a Five Spice ice cream might be nice and I gave it a shot. LOVE IT. The first batch was too powerfully flavored- part of the magic of Five Spice is how it gently touches every part of your palette. I thought I’d need to adjust the spice blend to accommodate the dairy flavor. Nope. As is.

Another neurotic mise-en-place by yours truly. We keep that diner-style sugar pourers right on the counter. It's so easy to pour out a teaspoon of sugar!

Enjoy!

5 Large egg Yolks
1.5 cups whole milk
1.5 cups heavy cream
¾ cups white sugar
5 egg yolks
1.5 teaspoons Five Spice

Get your ice water stop-bath ready.

Whisk the egg yolks in a large non-reactive saucepan; set aside. Warm the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat; stir to prevent scalding. Add sugar, stir to dissolve completely. Add five spice and whisk into milk. Continue stirring the steaming milk/sugar/spice mixture for another 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat and pour the milk mixture into the eggs in a very slow, steady stream while whisking vigorously and continuously.  Once combined put the pot on medium-low heat and stir continuously.until the mixture begins to thicken- do not allow to boil. 

Place the pot into ice water stop-bath and stir until steaming ceases. Pour through a fine strainer( to remove any bit of scrambled eggs) into an airtight container. Refrigerate the mix- allow it to cool and cure for at least 6 hours, preferably 24. 

Freeze the mix in your ice cream machine as per the manufacturer's instructions. When the freezing cycle finishes, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for at least two hours to harden. The ice cream can be stored in the freeze for up to five days, after that it will get icy and bleh.