Exotic hibiscus by Jiro Tanaka

The much-admired combination of exotic fruits and chocolate is joined by an Aisan taste by hibiscus flower in this piece. After WCM challenge where he was assigned to make ‘future gastronomy,’ Jiro Tanaka started to think that it is a task for those who work in food industry to find new ingredients for the future. Flower can be important food in the age of food shortage, he thought. To elevate the taste of chocolate, he chose hibiscus flower that has different acidity from one in raspberry.

Our Japanese correspondant Reiko Matsuno travels to Kamakura to discover his amazing chocolate work of art with more than a hundred elements, most of them handmade without molds.

Photos: Noriko Carlow

Exotic hibiscus

Biscuit joconde chocolat

180 g confectioners’ sugar
180 g almond powder
240 g whole eggs
162 g egg whites
31 g granulated sugar
10 g cake flour
39 g cocoa powder
35 g butter, melted

Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond powder and shift. Add the heated whole eggs to the almond powder mixture and beat. Beat the egg whites and granulated sugar to make a meringue and add to the egg and almond powder mixture. Sift the cake flour and cocoa powder and combine with the batter. Add the butter and pour the batter into a baking pan. Bake in a deck oven at 180/160¼C℃ for 16 minutes.

Hibiscus compote

20 g dried hibiscus flowers
533 g water
granulated sugar
300 g raspberry purée
28 g granulated sugar
11 g gelatin

Make a syrup with water and 267 g of granulated sugar and add dried hibiscus flowers and let stand for an hour. Put 75 g each of the chopped hibiscus flowers and the syrup, raspberry purŽe, 28 g of granulated sugar in a saucepan and heat. Remove from the heat and add the hydrated gelatin to dissolve. Pour 20 g of the mixture into a rectangular frame (14×2 cm) and put in the refrigerator.

Tropical mousse

40 g water
160 g granulated sugar
80 g egg whites
234 g tropical fruits purée
32 g invert sugar
7 g gelatin
234 g fresh cream, 35% milk fat

Make an Italian meringue with the water, granulated sugar and egg whites. Combine the purŽe with the invert sugar. Heat small amount of the purŽe mixture and dissolve the gelatin in it. Whip the fresh cream until soft peak forms and combine it with 94 g of the Italian meringue. Add the purée mixture and the gelatin and mix.

Milk chocolate glaze

135 g water
260 g granulated sugar
260 g starch syrup
180 g fresh cream, 35% milk fat
21 g gelatin
260 g milk chocolate

Put the water, granulated sugar, starch syrup and fresh cream in a saucepan and heat until it reaches 103¼C. Remove from the heat and add the hydrated gelatin and mix well. Add the mixture to the milk chocolate and emulsify.

Caramel chocolate mousse

100 g granulated sugar
124 g fresh cream, 35% milk fat
65 g frozen egg yolks
5 g gelatin
124 g milk chocolate
265 g fresh cream, 35% milk fat

Make a caramel with the granulated sugar and 124 g of the fresh cream. Remove from the heat and add the hydrated gelatin to dissolve. Combine it with frozen egg yolks and pour over to the milk chocolate. Mix well and emulsify. Whip the 265 g of the fresh cream until a soft peak forms and combine with the chocolate mixture.

Yellow chocolate glaze

135 g water
260 g granulated sugar
260 g starch syrup
180 g fresh cream, 35% milk fat
21 g gelatin
300 g white chocolate
q.s. food coloring (yellow)

Crispy chocolate

21 g Praline Croquantine
82 g milk chocolate
20 g dried coconut shreds

Combine Praline Croquantine and milk chocolate and melt. Roast and crush the dried coconut shreds and combine with the chocolate.

Montage

Pipe the tropical mousse in the half of a mold (3x15x3 cm-high). Cut the hibiscus compote and biscuit joconde chocolat into the same size and put together. Place it in the center of the tropical mousse. Pipe the caramel chocolate mousse to the top of the mold and place a 3×15 cm biscuit joconde chocolat on it. Put it in the freezer. Spread the crispy chocolate over the frozen biscuit. Coat the cake with the milk chocolate glaze first and apply the yellow chocolate glaze in places.