Seaweed Ice Cream
By Sasha MarxPublished on February 21, 2017
Yield
Make about 1 quart
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Kombu is a type of kelp commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is one of the two primary ingredients used to make dashi, where it provides body and savory depth. It can be purchased in well-stocked grocery stores or online. Hijiki is a type of seaweed commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is often added to soups, cooked vegetables, and rice. Hijiki is more mild than kombu or wakame (the leafy green seaweed swimming in your miso soup) and adds an understated vegetal sea flavor without being briny. It can be purchased in well-stocked grocery stores or online. We prefer Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk for this recipe.
Heating the mixture slowly in step 1 allows the flavors of the kombu and hijiki to infuse into the ice cream base.
If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours and preferably for 48 hours before churning. For self-refrigerating ice cream makers, prechill the canister by running the machine for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring in the custard.
We love the subtle flavor of this ice cream served plain or topped with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs.
Instructions
- Place 1¼ cups milk, cream, corn syrup, kombu, and hijiki in large saucepan. In small bowl, whisk together milk powder, sugar, and salt; whisk into cream mixture in saucepan until combined. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently to dissolve sugar and break up any clumps, until tiny bubbles form around edge of saucepan and mixture registers 190 degrees F/87.8 degrees C, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk ¼ cup milk and cornstarch together in small bowl.
- Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk into milk mixture in saucepan. Cook, constantly scraping bottom of saucepan with rubber spatula, until mixture thickens, about 30 seconds. Immediately strain ice cream base through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl (discard seaweed); let cool until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Cover bowl and refrigerate until base registers 40 degrees F/ 4.4 degrees C, at least 6 hours or up to 8 hours. (Base can be refrigerated overnight. Alternatively, base can be chilled in about 1½ hours by placing it over ice bath of 6 cups ice, ½ cup water, and ⅓ cup salt.)
- Churn base in ice cream maker until mixture resembles thick soft-serve ice cream and registers 21 degrees F/-6.1 degrees C. Transfer to airtight container and freeze until hard, at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
Yield
Make about 1 quartIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
We love desserts that walk the line between sweet and savory without being an exercise in culinary pretentiousness. (Have we finally agreed to stop trying to put bacon in everything? Please say yes.) And yes, seaweed ice cream sounds like we are going all-in on that pretension, but hear us out, because it’s really tasty stuff. This ice cream doesn’t hit you over the head with seaweed flavor—it just adds a can’t-put-your-finger-on-it savory quality to a really delicious sweet-cream ice cream base that editor-in-chief Dan Souza developed after attending the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course. Dan’s recipe produces supercreamy results by using nonfat milk powder to decrease the proportion of water in the recipe (which turns to unwanted ice crystals), cornstarch to bind up water that is in the base, and a little corn syrup to add viscosity and further decrease iciness.
In this recipe, we steep two types of dried seaweed—kombu and hijiki—in the base before straining them out and churning. Kombu is a type of kelp commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is one of the two primary ingredients used to make dashi, where it provides body and savory depth. Hijiki is a mild-tasting seaweed that adds pleasant vegetal flavor to this ice cream. This ice cream pairs really well with a sprinkling of cocoa nibs for a very different take on classic chocolate chip ice cream.
Photography by Steve Klise
Food Styling by Marie Piraino
Before You Begin
Kombu is a type of kelp commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is one of the two primary ingredients used to make dashi, where it provides body and savory depth. It can be purchased in well-stocked grocery stores or online. Hijiki is a type of seaweed commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is often added to soups, cooked vegetables, and rice. Hijiki is more mild than kombu or wakame (the leafy green seaweed swimming in your miso soup) and adds an understated vegetal sea flavor without being briny. It can be purchased in well-stocked grocery stores or online. We prefer Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk for this recipe.
Heating the mixture slowly in step 1 allows the flavors of the kombu and hijiki to infuse into the ice cream base.
If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours and preferably for 48 hours before churning. For self-refrigerating ice cream makers, prechill the canister by running the machine for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring in the custard.
We love the subtle flavor of this ice cream served plain or topped with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs.
Instructions
- Place 1¼ cups milk, cream, corn syrup, kombu, and hijiki in large saucepan. In small bowl, whisk together milk powder, sugar, and salt; whisk into cream mixture in saucepan until combined. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently to dissolve sugar and break up any clumps, until tiny bubbles form around edge of saucepan and mixture registers 190 degrees F/87.8 degrees C, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk ¼ cup milk and cornstarch together in small bowl.
- Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk into milk mixture in saucepan. Cook, constantly scraping bottom of saucepan with rubber spatula, until mixture thickens, about 30 seconds. Immediately strain ice cream base through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl (discard seaweed); let cool until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Cover bowl and refrigerate until base registers 40 degrees F/ 4.4 degrees C, at least 6 hours or up to 8 hours. (Base can be refrigerated overnight. Alternatively, base can be chilled in about 1½ hours by placing it over ice bath of 6 cups ice, ½ cup water, and ⅓ cup salt.)
- Churn base in ice cream maker until mixture resembles thick soft-serve ice cream and registers 21 degrees F/-6.1 degrees C. Transfer to airtight container and freeze until hard, at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
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