Mangosteen yoghurt pannacotta

It appears that alongside oppressive heat comes a wider range of fruit at the onset of an Hanoi summer. Ladies selling pineapples, mangoes and oranges from baskets attached to bicycles park along busy streets or cycle slowly around until someone stops them to buy. The fruit is piled up, and can be quickly peeled and sliced for you should you so desire. Recently more exotic fruits have been making appearances, small spiky durians, misshapen soursops and pretty piles of rambutans are available from these travelling saleswomen.

I usually take the scenic route to and from work, for fear of dying if I go the short way on the real road with the scary traffic and drivers who aren’t able to turn their heads (stiff necks seem to be a real problem with Hanoi drivers). My desire for survival means that I miss all the fruit ladies on the main road, so my first indication of the change in fruit season was in the rubbish. Discarded durian shells, all the sweet stinky flesh removed, and mangosteen detritus littering my alley. Imagine that, a fruit so exotic, rare and expensive in Australia being consumed in the street, like a common apple or banana.

Mangosteens, the queen of fruit, are juicy, fragrant and sweet with a very subtle perfume and flavour. Their purple red shell will bleed colour that stains, which is why they are not allowed in hotel rooms in Malaysia. The season corresponds with that of the durian and these fruits are often eaten in combination, the ‘cooling’ aspects of the mangosteen offsetting the hot nature of the durian.

This recipe pairs the delicate watery fruit with yoghurt and cream, the fat seems to carry the mangosteens whimsical flavour further, and backs it up with a tartness that evens out the sweet. The original recipe called for lime zest in the pannacotta, but I removed it, mixed it with some mango and made a salsa topping. Mango and mangosteen, see what I did there? I halved the recipe, but wish I hadn’t. Even pMum loved it.

This recipe is listed in a new section: Ingredients (check the navigation menu at the top of the page!). Here you will be able to find information about the strange and wonderful ingredients featured here on Pikelet and Pie.
Another new section brings together all the posts about Vietnamese food in one handy spot.

Mangosteen Yoghurt Pannacotta
Adapted from Eunice Lee, pastry chef at Straits in San Francisco.
Serves 4

To open a mangosteen: The inedible exterior of the fruit starts out fibrous and firm, but softens during the ripening process. Score around the centre of the fruit with a sharp knife taking care not to cut into the soft flesh underneath. Pull the shell gently to release the white flesh inside.

100ml mangosteen puree
200ml yogurt (i used sweet vinamilk yoghurt, which I think is made from condensed milk)
200ml cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 sheets gelatine

For mango lime salsa:
Mango
lime juice
sugar
lime zest

For pannacotta:
- Soak the gelatine in cold water.
- Whisk yoghurt, cream, mangosteen puree and vanilla together.
- In a small pan heat the sugar with a few tablespoons of water to dissolve the crystals. I had to heat this mixture until boiling because the sugar here in Hanoi is really crystallised and I didn’t have any caster sugar. When the sugar has dissolved remove from heat and stir the gelatine through. Pour into a bowl, cool slightly then mix few tablespoons of the cream mixture through to cool it.
- Mix the gelatine mixture through the rest of the cream, pour into 4 moulds and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

For Mango topping:
- finely dice the mango, sprinkle with some granulated sugar and a squeeze of lime juice and set aside.
- Meanwhile prepare lime zest. Peel the zest from a lime with a vegetable peeler. Remove any white pith with a sharp knife and julienne the green zest. Place zest in a small pan and cover with cold water. Heat until boiling, then drain and refresh the zest. Repeat one more time. This removes the bitterness from the zest.
-stir prepared zest through mango mixture, put it two tablespoons on top of each set pannacotta and serve immediately.