Shiso and Burnt Peach Caramel Ice Cream
Shiso in ice cream is a revelation, and I am here to spread its gospel.
Using shiso in sweet applications is a fairly new thing for me. Up until I was a freshman in university, shiso leaves were relegated to my mental list of uneaten garnishes, alongside strips of daikon found in some sashimi platters. I only ever ate shiso leaves in savoury dishes, mostly in my favourite Korean and Vietnamese establishments. I never really thought much of them as a highlight; I was young and my palette chased heat and texture over nuance and balance. It took me a while to truly appreciate the shiso leaf in all of its mysterious, meadowy, aromatic goodness.
For the uninitiated, shiso leaves might be a bit of an acquired taste, specifically for those who do not like the taste of cilantro. To me, shiso leaves have flavour overtones of basil, marjoram, angelica, tarragon, clove, and lemon peel, with a refreshingly astringent and bitter finish—delicious. They belong to the Lamiaceae family, the same family of flowering herbs as mint, basil, sage, thyme, and lavender, to name a few. In various Vietnamese and Korean dishes, shiso leaves, alongside other herbs and leaves, are paired with rich stews, fried foods, and fatty meats. The bright, herbaceous bitterness of the shiso leaf cuts through those unctuous fats, and presto: you’ve got texture, levity, balance, and most importantly, deliciousness.
I have been making this ice cream since the late summer of 2018. I was working at a specialty food stall in Granville Island; we were the only stall in that public market that carried shiso leaves. Shiso leaves are not something you can acquire at just any grocery store here in Vancouver; you can really only find them in Japanese grocers, Southeast Asian, Korean, and Chinese food purveyors, or at farmers’ market stalls. A friend of mine, Meredith Kaufman—a wildly-talented baker—used to sell her baked goods at market pop-ups under the name, The Salty Cookie; she had a few market pop-up dates in the Granville Island grounds that summer. She stopped by my stall one day and bought a couple of bunches of shiso leaves, and in between our catch-ups, she mentioned she would be making a strawberry-shiso ice cream with the leaves she just purchased. I, of course, was intrigued; shiso in ice cream!!! She said she typically chiffonades the shiso leaves and adds them towards the end of the ice cream-churning process. Meredith also says she mixes in some chiffonade leaves into macerated strawberries—YUM! She encouraged the use of shiso leaves in desserts, and her descriptions of her own shiso-based sweets sounded amazing to me. Naturally, I had to purchase some with the explicit intention of making ice cream!
It was August, the peaches were plentiful, and I have always wanted to make a peaches and cream ice cream, so I decided to give shiso a go here. Y’all… shiso and cream is a revelation! The shiso somehow further amplifies the fruit in a fruit-forward, cream-based dessert; must be those flower meadow, Lamiaceae family flavour profiles, amirite?! I have since used shiso in panna cotta, infused whipped creams, creme brûlées… Basically, I feel like any milk or cream-based, berry, or stone fruit-forward desserts will work with shiso! I have made a nectarine version of this ice cream, for one! A shiso and stone fruit sherbet and sorbet (for the vegans) would be wonderful! I feel like I am just scratching the surface on shiso in desserts here.
I served a strawberry and shiso pavlova for a dinner party this past June and I had some of my family asking if the herb I used is basil… I mean, close enough, right?! For those who don’t eat shiso on the daily, the addition of shiso in your dessert will leave your people mulling over the flavour, but they will also be unable to stop eating this ice cream or pavlova or whatever shiso-infused dessert you have concocted, I guarantee you.