Mango Panna Cotta

What is panna cotta? Why do I see it everywhere, on TV, on people's blog, on the menu I read off a newspaper? How come I've never come across it? Why haven't I tried it?

Rather than waiting til the time has come to eat panna cotta at some restaurant somewhere, I urged myself to make one. Yes, that has been my motto. When you want something, you make it. This is especially true for food :)

Since coming to Canada, I have ventured here and there in the world of food. Trying to make something I never made before. For example, when I want a Black Forest Cake, I made it, instead of buying. Soon after, I had this weird, self-centered idea that nothing will be as good if it's not homemade. I meant that for any commercial products that contains some kind of chemical. Only homemade foods that has no artificial ingredients are the BEST.

Now I'm only rambling. So, better shift your attention to my spongy creamy Mango Panna Cotta. This may be the worst panna cotta ever in terms of texture. As you can see, I had some open holes on the surface and it was really hard to get it out of the mold. In contrast, the flavour lives up to my expectation :) Mango, tangy buttermilk, and whipping cream are perfect with each other! This reminds me so much of the Mango Pudding I used to have when having yum cha with my extended family.

The recipe itself was a modified version of the one I found at Epicurious.com. I basically use this recipe as the basic and substituted all of the blackberries with mangoes. However, I added some personal addition such as the diced mangoes for some bites in the panna cotta. I hope you like it. Any notes for improvements are always welcome.

Mango Panna Cotta

2 medium sized mangoes (I used the one w/ green-and-red skin)
1-1/4 cups buttermilk, well shaken
2-3/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
1-1/2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract, optional

01. Peel the mangoes. Roughly chop 1-1/2 of the two mangoes, while dice the rest of the mango into 0.5 cm cubes. Set the mango cubes aside.
02. Place the roughly chopped mangoes and buttermilk in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. (At this point, you are supposed to strain the puree and throw away the pulp. I skipped this part because I like mangoes too much I even like the pulps)
03. Sprinkle gelatin into the water. Let it stand until gelatin softens, about 2 minutes.
04. Meanwhile, heat cream in a saucepan with sugar on medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved, remove from heat.
05. Add the gelatin into the warmed cream. Stir until combined. Transfer to a larger bowl.
06. Pour the pureed mango into the cream-and-gelatin mixture, stir until combined.
07. Prepare a sieve over an empty bowl, then strain the mango mixture, discard the curd. (Again, I skipped this part for fear of losing the goodness of mangoes and some of the gelatin)
08. Sprinkle mango cubes into the mixture.
09. With a big spoon, pour the mixture carefully into the prepared molds (you can use ramekins).
10. Chill for at least 8 hours.
11. Serve with fresh strawberries and a bath of whipping cream.

It was really good eaten with fresh strawberries since the sweetness from the panna cotta compliments the soury goodness of strawberries!