Coconut Lemongrass Panna Cotta with Setup Mangga
Today we’ll make coconut lemongrass panna cotta with setup mangga. This dessert is an homage to my Indonesian roots, as I used ingredients that are commonly used in Indonesian desserts. The panna cotta is made from coconut milk that was infused with lemongrass and coconut blossom sugar, or what we call “gula semut” in Indonesian. I always think the name “gula semut” is funny, as it literally means ant sugar. I think it’s named that way as the sugar granules resemble red ants that are everywhere in Indonesia.
I served the panna cotta with mango that I poached in liquid caramel. In Indonesia, we call this type of poached fruit “setup”, a word that is derived from Dutch “stoof”. In the Netherlands, stoofperen, or poached pears, are a popular dessert. Dutch people love eating stoofperen just like that, with vla (custard), yogurt or served alongside hachee (meat stew) and stamppot (mashed potato dish). Since pears are not native fruits, Indonesian people in the past substituted them with local fruits like banana or guava. In this recipe, I used mango, hence it’s called “setup mangga”.
Every family has their own setup recipe, and I have created various recipes as well throughout the past decade. Today’s setup mangga was spiked with Armagnac, which is not a common spirit to find in Indonesia. However, I happened to have an opened Armagnac bottle and I wanted to cook with it so badly, so I decided to add it to my setup mangga. You can use other spirits such as cognac or rum.
One thing I really love about making panna cotta is I get to choose which mold I use to shape my panna cotta. I have a small collection of pudding molds and most of them are vintage or antique. For this panna cotta, I chose perhaps the most classic form, bundt. I got this particular mold from an antique trader in France. It’s beautifully hand painted and I love its cobalt blue color.
The next fun thing about making panna cotta (and any desserts, really!) is decorating it. My garden is exploding with colors from all the edible and non-edible flowers that I grow. So, I take this chance to shamelessly flaunt my flowers in every food picture.
I hope you enjoy today’s recipe. I’ll see you in the next newsletter!
Serves 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Chilling time: At least 3 hours
Level of difficulty: 1/3
Keep for 3 days refrigerated
Ingredients:
500ml/ 2 cups coconut milk
80g/ 1/3 cup coconut blossom sugar
3 stalks of lemongrass, bruised and chopped
6g/ 0.2 ounces vegatine powder (1½ sachet)
¼ tsp salt
Setup mangga:
125g/ ½ cup granulated sugar
1 tbs coconut blossom sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
125g/ ½ cup water
¼ tsp salt
1 tbs Armagnac (substitute with cognac or rum)
600g/ 21 ounces mango (about 2 mangoes), chopped
Steps:
Wet a pudding mold with water and throw away the water, but don’t wipe the inside of the mold.
Add coconut milk, coconut blossom sugar, chopped lemongrass, vegatine powder, and salt to a pot. Mix with a balloon whisk until the vegatine is dissolved.
Heat the pot and cook for about 2-3 minutes under low heat, stirring continuously with a balloon whisk. Don’t let the coconut milk boil.
Turn off the heat and strain the mixture directly onto the mold. Let it sit for 1-2 hours until it’s cooled down and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Add granulated sugar, coconut blossom sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, water, and salt to a skillet. Heat on low heat for about 4-5 minutes until the sugar melts and turns golden brown. Add the Armagnac. Stir to combine with a balloon whisk.
Add mango and stir so that the mango is coated with the sauce. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Serve the panna cotta with the setup mangga on the side.