This creamy strawberry panna cotta is made of fresh strawberries. With tender sous-vide strawberries that are infused with sake and the crunchy Sichuan pepper crumble, this panna cotta is the perfect summery fusion dessert.
You might also like Plum Powder Sake Granita and Candied Tomato in Sake.
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What is Sichuan Pepper Corn?
Sichuan pepper, also known as “Hua Jiao (花椒)“ for it’s flower-like shape after drying out, is a spice commonly used in Chinese cuisine. Despite its name, it's not a true pepper, but rather the dried husks of the prickly ash tree's berries. Sichuan pepper has a unique citrusy and floral notes, along with a tingling, numbing sensation (麻) on the palate rather than the heat (辣) associated with chili peppers. It's a key ingredient in Sichuan cuisine, contributing to the region's signature dishes like Mapo Tofu and Sichuan Hot Pot.
Ingredients of Strawberry Panna Cotta
- Strawberry - Any fresh strawberries or strawberry puree.
- Sugar - I use granulated sugar for pure sweetness, you can also choose other sweeteners such as light brown sugar or monk fruit.
- Milk - Whole milk, 2% milk or plant milk.
- Vanilla Bean Paste - I like to use vanilla bean paste cause it gives natural vanilla flavor. However, this ingredient is optional.
- Heavy Cream - Heavy cream is the source of creaminess in panna cotta. You can play with the ratio of heavy cream and milk. If you prefer a lighter panna cotta, cut some heavy cream, and increase the milk portion.
- Gelatin - There are gelatin powder and gelatin sheet (leaf). I always use gelatin leaf cause it is the most tasteless and transparent option. If you want to use gelatin powder for this recipe, 1 tablespoon is good for a whole recipe.
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients of Sous-vide Strawberry
- Strawberry - Fresh firm strawberries, preferably medium size. This recipe request slicing the strawberry, but if the strawberries are too ripe and soft, sous vide the whole strawberries.
- Liquid - Though strawberry contains a lot of liquid, you still need a little bit wet ingredient to poach the fruit especially that sous vide fruit takes only a short period of time. In this recipe, I use Amabuki 'Gin no Kurenai’ Junmai Sake, which has natural rosé hue from black rice. You can also use red wine, white wine, or water for nonalcoholic version.
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients of Sichuan Pepper Crumble
- Sichuan Pepper Corn - This recipe use grounded Sichuan pepper corn. You can grind it with a electric grinder or pestle.
- Flour - All purpose flour, plain flour or buckwheat flour for gluten-free option.
- Light Brown Sugar - Light brown sugar gives it a caramel-like molasses flavor, and it gives the crumble just enough moisture to stick together.
- Almond Flour - Almond flour keeps the crumble crunchy, and the toasted almond flour gives it a nice nutty aroma. However, you can also substitute with flour, but the crumble will get soften easier.
- Butter - As the crumble bakes, the cold butter melts and coats the dry ingredients, forming irregularly shaped crumbs. These crumbs provide the desirable texture of crumble.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Strawberry Panna Cotta?
Prepare containers and iced water to bloom the gelatin leaf.
Squeeze out the excess water from bloomed gelatin.
Remove the stems from strawberries. Blend the strawberries and sugar to puree in a food processor or with a hand blender.
Reduce the strawberry puree over stovetop until you can draw a line in the sauce pan.
Add milk, heavy cream and vanilla bean paste in the strawberry preserve, and heat up to 160°F, about 15 minutes.
Strain the strawberry milk mixture for 2-3 times. The more fiber you remove, the smoother panna cotta will be. You can also use a Chinoise for the smoothest texture, but it will take some time.
Add bloomed gelatin and make sure it’s melted. Add color if you want.
Pour the panna cotta in the containers, about 180g each, and let them set in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
How to sous vide strawberry?
Put the sliced strawberries, sugar, sake, Sichuan pepper corn in a vacuum-sealed bag, and vacuum seal it.
Preheat a water bath to 130°F, and cook the strawberries sous-vide for 15 minutes.
Once done, cool the whole bag in iced water. Once strawberries are cold, they are ready to serve with panna cotta. You can also keep them in a container. They taste even better on the second day.
How to prepare Sichuan Pepper Crumble?
Grind the Sichuan pepper corn with a pestle or electric grinder. Mix flour, light brown sugar, almond flour and grounded Sichuan pepper in a bowl. Add cold cubed butter, and mix until clumps form.
Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Stir it with a spatula, and bake for 10 more minutes. Cool it down before serving.
Equipment
You need containers for panna cotta, either many single serving cups, or one big bowl for a sharing size. The ones I use here are 7 oz. glass cups.
I blend the strawberry with a mini food processor that came with hand blender. It is very convenient for small household. I use its hand mixer for whipping egg white, cake batter, hand blender for making smoothie and emulsify in baking. Highly recommend it.
Storage
Panna cotta can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. Sous-vide strawberries can be refrigerated in a clean container for up to 1 week. Sichuan Pepper Crumble can be stored in a dry cool room-temp environment for 1 month. However, once you put the toppings on the panna cotta, they should be served as soon as possible for the best texture.
Recipe FAQ
Strawberries contain a lot of water. If you only blend the strawberry and milk together, it is going to separate. In order to get the most flavor out of strawberry without water down the panna cotta, I cook the strawberry first to concentrate the flavor.
Poached fruit and sous-vide fruit are both methods of cooking fruit gently in liquid, but they differ in many ways.
Poaching: Poaching involves cooking fruit in a simmering liquid until the it becomes tender. In order to fully cover the fruit, it usually require a lot of liquid which might evaporate and reduce during the process.
Sous vide: Sous-vide cooking involves vacuum-sealing the fruit in a bag and cooking it in a water bath at a precisely controlled temperature for an extended period. This low-temp and slow cooking method preserves the fruit's texture and flavor.
I choose sous vide method over poaching the strawberries because I want to keep the texture, the aroma and the alcohol.
Unless the strawberries you get are fully ripen, most of the strawberries you get from supermarket in the U.S. are only red on the skin, because they're harvested underripe to survive shipping and storage. After strained, the strawberry milk only keep the flavor but color.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Card
Strawberry Panna Cotta with Sous-vide Strawberry
Equipment
Ingredients
Strawberry Panna Cotta
- 290 g strawberry with stem
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 400 g milk
- 300 g heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 3 sheet gelatin leaf (8g)
- 1 drip pink food color optional
Sous-vide Strawberry
- 125 g sliced strawberry
- 20 g granulated sugar
- 30 g sake, wine or water
- ¼ teaspoon Sichuan pepper corn whole
Sichuan Pepper Crumble
- 100 g all purpose flour
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 80 g almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon Sichuan pepper corn grounded
- 80 g unsalted butter cold, cubed
Instructions
Make Strawberry Panna Cotta
- Prep: Prepare containers and iced water to bloom the gelatin leaf. Squeeze out the excess water from bloomed gelatin.
- Blend: Remove the stems from strawberries. Blend the strawberries and sugar to puree in a food processor or with a hand blender.
- Cook: Reduce the strawberry puree over stovetop until you can draw a line in the sauce pan.
- Cook: Add milk, heavy cream and vanilla bean paste in the strawberry preserve, and heat up to 160°F, about 15 minutes.
- Strain: Strain the strawberry milk mixture for 2-3 times. The more fiber you remove, the smoother panna cotta will be. You can also use a Chinoise for the smoothest texture, but it will take some time.
- Melt: Add bloomed gelatin and make sure it’s melted. Add color if you want.
- Chill: Pour the panna cotta in the containers, about 180g each, and let them set in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Sous vide strawberry
- Vacuum Seal: Put the sliced strawberries, sugar, sake, Sichuan pepper corn in a vacuum-sealed bag, and vacuum seal it.
- Cook: Preheat a water bath to 130°F, and cook the strawberries sous-vide for 15 minutes.
- Chill: Once done, cool the whole bag in iced water. Once strawberries are cold, they are ready to serve with panna cotta. You can also keep them in a container. They taste even better on the second day.
Prepare Sichuan Pepper Crumble
- Grind: Grind the Sichuan pepper corn with a pestle or electric grinder.
- Mix: Mix flour, light brown sugar, almond flour and grounded Sichuan pepper in a bowl. Add cold cubed butter, and mix until clumps form.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Stir it with a spatula, and bake for 10 more minutes. Cool it down before serving.
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