Technique: Puffed Sushi Rice with Pastry Chef Daniel Carter of Go Fish

Technique: Puffed Sushi Rice
Pastry Chef Daniel Carter of Go Fish—St. Helena, CA
July 2009

At Cindy Pawlcyn’s Napa Valley seafood and sushi restaurant, Pastry Chef Daniel Carter cleverly employs sushi rice to create an original (yet familiar) component in his pastry dishes.

The traditional Japanese sushi rice, flavored with rice vinegar and mirin, gives the short grained rice its traditional depth of flavor and stickiness. Carter manipulates the moisture level with cornstarch to achieve a drier product, which he can then safely dehydrate overnight before deep-frying the grains. The result is a light and crunchy puffed rice which can be combined with chocolate (or other sweet or savory binding agent) and turned into a base to complement other elements in a dish.

Step 1: Rinse sushi rice and cook in rice cooker with water, vinegar, and mirin.
Step 2: Add cornstarch and break rice apart.
Step 3: Spread rice on a sheet pan and dry overnight in a warm oven.
Step 4: Using a chinois, fry handfuls of the rice in hot oil.
Step 5: Add binding agent, salt, and sugar to taste.
Step 6: Spread the rice on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.
Step 7: Let rice harden and use.

Milk Chocolate Mousse, Hazelnut Donettes, Koko Krispies
Pastry Chef Daniel Carter of Go Fish—St. Helena, CA
Adapted by StarChefs.com
July 2009
Yield: 20 Servings

INGREDIENTS

Hazelnut Buttermilk Donuts:
14 ounces all purpose flour
7 ounces toasted ground hazelnuts
7 ounces sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup buttermilk
2 ounces browned butter
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Milk Chocolate Mousse:
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
15 ounces milk chocolate
5 ounces butter
¼ cup crème fraiche
6 ounces heavy cream
1 ounce powdered sugar
9 ounces egg whites
1¾ ounces sugar
Salt

Koko Krispies:
1 pound cooked and seasoned sushi rice
½ cup cornstarch
1 gallon canola oil
8 ounces melted and tempered semi-sweet chocolate
Sugar
Salt

Assemble and Serve:
Chocolate sheets
Chocolate sauce

METHOD

For the Hazelnut Buttermilk Donuts:
Combine the flour, hazlenuts, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix the buttermilk, brown butter, eggs, egg yols, and vanilla extract ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine but do not over mix. Flour a surface and roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out doughnuts, cover, and refrigerate.

For the Milk Chocolate Mousse:
Combine the bittersweet and milk chocolates with the butter in a large pot and melt over a double boiler. Add the crème fraiche. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar to medium peaks. In another bowl, whip the egg whites, sugar, and salt to medium peaks. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites. Fold in the whipped cream.

For the Koko Krispies:
Toss the sushi rice in the cornstarch, breaking apart any clumps. Spread the rice on a sheet tray and dry in a low or off oven overnight. Shake off excess cornstarch. Heat the oil to 350°F. Fry the rice in small batches until golden brown. Transfer the rice to a large bowl and let cool. Add the chocolate in 3 stages while stirring constantly. Add the sugar and salt after the second addition of chocolate. Spread the mixture on a sheet pan and allow to set.

To Assemble and Serve:
Cut a chocolate sheet into a square, roll into a cylinder, and place on the plate. Pipe the milk chocolate mousse into the center of the cylinder. Garnish the plate with chocolate sauce swirls and place two donuts side by side. Top the chocolate cylinder with the koko krispies and sprinkle additional kernels around the plate.