Baltasar Massot’s sweet sushis
Three elements are enough to get a really round, simple, colorful and tasteful snack. The sweet sushi that Baltasar Massot presents to us, professor of the Pastry School of Barcelona (EPGB), is composed of chocolate ‘seaweed’, rice but in a pudding shape, and tapioca caviar, also known as pearls of Japan. This is one of the creations with which he surprised us in so good #20 and which we now recover to celebrate International Sushi Day.
Starting with the rice pudding, its origin is clearly Arabic although there are traditional versions around Europe, and of course in Turkey or India. And regarding tapioca pearls, they are made from the starch that is extracted from the root of cassava or yucca. These are small, hard, white balls with a spherical shape that, when cooked, become transparent and gelatinous, reminiscent of salmon roe or a spherified caviar.
The cylinder that contains this simple dessert is nothing more than a thin sheet of chocolate with enough consistency to make that container function. Baltasar Massot, Mallorcan pastry chef, is a great connoisseur of traditional pastry and the fundamental tasks of artisan pastry. After an intense professional career that led him to work in his native Mallorca, but also in Kuwait or Barcelona, for 9 years he has been a teacher at the aforementioned school in Barcelona.
Sweet sushi with rice pudding and tapioca pearls
Rice pudding
- 1.450 g whole milk
- 120 g sugar
- 250 g short-grain rice, washed
- 50 g pasteurized egg yolks
- 160 g white chocolate
- q.s. salt
- q.s. desired aroma (cinnamon, lemon, vanilla…)
Grease a saucepan with butter and pour in the milk together with the aromas. Bring to a boil. Once it gets to a boil, pour the rice and occasionally stir until properly cooked. Add the sugar and salt. Scald the egg yolks with some of the rice and add the chocolate. Mix the resulting mixture with the previously cooked rice once it has cooled down. Readjust with milk or cream if needed.
REMARK:This formula adapts to countless variations (type of chocolate, other aromas, liquors…)
Tapioca pearls
- 50 g tapioca pearls
- 1.000 g water
- q.s. aroma
Bring the water to a boil in a lidded pot and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook the tapioca pearls for 12 to 14 minutes in the lidded pot to prevent the water from evaporating. Once cooked, drain and wash with plenty of cold water. Place the pearls in a mixture of water-reduced fruit purée or in syrup for 12 to 24 hours. Also, add some food color if a more intense color is desired. Drain and wash again.
NOTE: The pearls should be cooked in plenty of water because they have a high starch content. If the water were not enough, the starch would end up concentrating the mixture forming a whole block. It should cook without the water boiling in a gush, but over a medium heat, otherwise the outside would soften while the inside would remain too hard.The cooking times should be respected, do not trust the eyes. If the pearls are not washed after cooking, they will stick together forming a block. Any flavor or aroma can be incorporated, except alcohols, since they dehydrate the pearls and therefore would turn into small white spots.
Montage
Make small chocolate cups, fill with the rice pudding to almost the edge and finish with the tapioca pearls.The combinations are countless. Changing flavors and colors, a wide range of sweet sushi can be available.
