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| Amazake Cucumber Shaved Ice |
Frozen treats are something we all love to play with when it's hot. Sometimes we don't want to resort to all the effort involved with an ice cream maker. There's beauty in the simplicity of freezing all manners of fruit whether it be chopped or pureed and included in ice pops, slush, granita, or whatever have you. However, there's always the crunch of the large ice crystals. Not that it's a bad thing per se.
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| Fresh Peeled Row7 Cucumbers in Jasmine Rice Koji |
What if you took a frozen block of fruit, well anything delicious really, and shaved it? Wouldn't you be able to achieve the instant fine melting texture of whatever you so chose?
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| Just Peeled Cucumbers & Jasmine Rice Koji After 5 Days |
As with everything we work on, there's an interconnectivity of ideas and inspiration. In this case, we happen to be working on an amazake spin for an upcoming Row7 Seeds Dinner in Mystic, CT. Our base recipe for amazake is equal parts koji, cooked starch and a liquid then wait for about a week. Since cucumbers are 96% water, we decided to just add equal parts of Jasmine rice koji and peeled cucumbers.
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| Amazake Cucumbers Bagged for Freezing |
After five days, we got awesome cucumber amazake and amazake infused cucumbers. The original plan is to dry out the cucumbers a bit and reduce the liquid to create a chewy candy. However, somehow the idea of freezing it for a shaved ice worked its way into our food making brain. It's ama-zing! We're in love with the sweet tart refreshing cucumber flavor and texture. Now, how do we serve it in this summer heat?
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| Shaved Whole Flash Frozen Fish (Credit: John Hutt) |
Just before writing this, our friend John Hutt posted on Instagram this amazing fish in Moscow that was shaved directly from whole flash frozen. Another melt in your mouth delight to consider for sure!
As always, please share your discoveries so we can keep the ideas bouncing.
