Fresh Ginger Ice Cream

Makes: 1 Quart

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. water
• 1/2 c. + 2 tbs. sugar
• 1/4 packed c. ginger, very finely minced, pureed, or grated
• 1 c. whole milk
• 2 extra-large egg yolks
• 1 c. heavy cream
• about 1 tsp. lemon juice

Steps:

1. Chill heavy cream in large bowl.
2. Combine water and 1/4 c. sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to near-simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add ginger, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In larger saucepan, combine 2 tbs. sugar with 1 c. milk. Bring to near-simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, add sugar/ginger syrup, cover to hold heat, and let steep for 20 minutes.
4. Beat egg yolks with remaining 1/4 c. sugar until mixture is thick and pale yellow.
5. When steeping time is up, heat milk mixture to scalding, stirring as it heats. Drizzle about 1/4 c. of hot milk into beaten eggs, whisking to combine. Add egg mixture to hot milk. Heat milk mixture to custard stage, 180F on an instant-read thermometer. Don't let milk boil, or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.
6. Pour hot custard through sieve into chilled cream. Press down on trapped ginger to extract juice. Discard ginger. Let custard cool completely, stirring occasionally.
7. Just before freezing, adjust mixture with lemon juice, adding in drops until flavor peaks perceptibly on tongue.
8. Freeze in ice cream maker.

Notes:

Keywords: Chinese, Dessert, Ice Cream.