Yogurt marinade
180 grams whole milk yogurt
15 grams muscovado sugar
2 grams salt
0.2 grams ground cardamom
0.1 grams ground cayenne
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix to blend evenly. Reserve.
Sous Vide Sun Chokes
310 grams sun chokes
Reserved yogurt marinade.
Wash and trim the sun chokes to remove any dirt, grit and blemishes. Dry the sun chokes and place them in a vacuum bag. Add the yogurt marinade and seal the bag on high pressure. Place the sealed sun choke bag in a circulating water bath set at 83 degrees Celsius. Cook the sun chokes for two hours, then remove the bag from the water bath and place the bag in an ice bath to rapidly cool the vegetables. When the sun chokes are cold, open the bag and wash off the yogurt marinade. Use the tip of a pairing knife to peel the thick skin off the sun chokes. The skin will come off in large strips and pieces, revealing the translucent white flesh of the cooked sun choke. Peel all the sun chokes and reserve.
Mastic-Yogurt Powder
60 grams dried powdered yogurt
25 grams muscovado sugar
10 grams mastic tears
2 grams salt
Place the ingredients in a spice grinder and pulverize into a fine powder. Reserve the mixture.
Concord Grape Puree
685 grams concord grapes
2.5 grams salt
2 grams garam masala
25 grams rose syrup
Mix the grapes, salt and garam masala together. Place the ingredients in a vacuum bag and seal on high pressure. Once the grapes are sealed, use a meat mallet to flatten the grapes in the bag. Place the pounded grapes into the freezer and allow them to freeze solid. Once the grapes are frozen solid, place the pounded grapes in the refrigerator and allow them to thaw.
Place the thawed grapes in a pot and add the rose syrup. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook the grapes for five minutes. Turn the heat off and let the cooked grapes stand for fifteen minutes. Strain the cooked grape pulp through a fine meshed strainer and press on the pulp to extract all the juices. Cool the grape juices and strain another time through a fine meshed strainer to remove any more coarse particles, which may have formed during the cooling of the grape puree.
Concord Grape Pudding
305 grams Concord grape puree
0.31 grams high acyl gellan (.1 % of the puree)
0.92 grams low acyl gellan (.3% of the puree)
Place the grape puree in a blender and turn the power on low. Increase the speed until a vortex forms in the center of the puree. Sprinkle both types of gellan into the grape puree and blend for ten seconds to allow them to be evenly dispersed. Turn the blender off and pour the mixture into a pot. Slowly bring the mixture up to 90°C, constantly stirring throughout the heating process. When the mixture reaches 90°C, the gellan will be properly hydrated. Pour the mixture quickly into a shallow pan and allow the mixture to cool. When the grape puree is cold and set as a firm gel, break the gel into pieces and place back in the blender. Turn the blender on low and begin to puree the mixture. Increase the speed to medium and puree for three minutes. The mixture will become smooth and silky. Remove the grape mixture from the blender and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the concord grape pudding.
To Assemble:
Peeled sun chokes
Mastic-yogurt powder
Concord grape pudding
40 Young shiso sprigs
Spread the mastic-yogurt powder in a 0.5 cm layer on a sheet pan or in a shallow pan. Pat the sun chokes dry and then roll them in the mastic yogurt powder. Turn the sun chokes in the powder so they are evenly coated. Remove the coated sun chokes from the powder and gently shake to remove any loose crumbs. Set the coated sun chokes on a dry tray, continuing the process until they are all coated with mastic-yogurt powder.
Place a spoonful of the concord grape pudding in the center of a plate. Arrange three yogurt crusted sun chokes in a tight formation in the center of the grape pudding. Place two sun chokes two cm to the side of the concord grape pudding at the four o’clock position. Place three sprigs of shiso on the sun chokes in the center of the plate. Place one shiso sprig underneath the farthest offset sun choke and place another sprig on top.
