Green Tea Shaved Ice, Sweet Red Beans, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Shiratama Mochi

METHOD:

For Vanilla Ice Cream:
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, cream, egg yolks, and vanilla beans and seeds. When mixture reaches 35ºC, whisk in dextrose powder and milk powder. Bring mixture to 45ºC, whisk in sugar and stabilizer. Heat mixture to 85ºC and strain through a chinois into a bowl set in an ice bath. When cool, cover base and refrigerate overnight. Process in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

For Sweet Red Beans:
In a large pot over high heat, combine azuki beans and 2.4 kilograms water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until beans are tender. In thirds, stir in brown sugar. Season with salt, remove from heat, and refrigerate.

For Shiratama Mochi:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. In a bowl, combine shiratamako with 130 grams water. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls and cook 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain mochi and cool under running water. Set aside in bowl of room temperature water.

For Green Tea Syrup:
In a bowl, whisk together sugar and green tea powder. In thirds, whisk in milk. Pour mixture into a saucepan and heat to 70 ºC. Pour honey into a bowl and strain in hot green tea mixture, stirring to combine. Chill, cover, and refrigerate.

To Assemble and Serve:
Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream into serving glass. Top with Sweet Red Beans and 6 pieces Shiratama Mochi. With a Japanese ice shaver, shave ice block on top. Tableside, pour Green Tea Syrup over the ice mound.