Before anyone thinks that adding seaweed to desserts is weird, I actually grew up eating this Chinese coconut tapioca dessert that had pieces of rehydrated kombu in it. The kombu, which is a type of dried Japanese seaweed that is used in broths, absorbed the sweet coconut flavor and added a nice textural contrast to the soft tapioca, while providing a pleasantly welcome umami to the dessert itself. Umami in desserts is something that is getting more and more popular, with items such as miso paste or gochujang being more commonly seen in desserts now compared to 10 years ago. I have seen seaweed used in a couple of desserts across the past few seasons of Top Chef, so I figured, why not try making a seaweed-forward dessert myself? I chose to pair this ice cream with whipped creme fraiche for two reasons – the ice cream is naturally a sweet component, since it requires a decent amount of sugar to inhibit the formation of ice crystals so that it stays creamy while frozen. Also, I am folding white chocolate-coated nori through the ice cream, which is also sweet, so this ice cream is kind of sweet on sweet but also seaweed on seaweed. I wanted to coat the nori with white chocolate so that it still has its crispiness, even when folded through the ice cream. Creme fraiche, being very sour, will act as the perfect foil to that, balancing out the potential cloyingly sweet notes of the ice cream. I am pairing that with toasted and salted macadamia nuts, which will add a buttery flavor, a crunchy texture, and some more salt to play off of the salt in the nori and kombu! That and white chocolate-macadamia cookies are a personal favorite of mine, so using them as a garnish along with the white chocolate covered nori alludes to that as well.

When it comes to the components, you really only have three that need any actual work. The nori strips need to be covered in white chocolate, then ice cream itself that needs to be made then churned, and the creme fraiche needs to be slightly whipped until smooth and spreadable. In terms of difficulty, I would give this dessert maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10. While tempering chocolate(aka aligning and developing cocoa crystals) can be tricky, you are using white chocolate here, which is extremely easy to temper because it is sweetened cocoa butter, which is almost all cocoa crystal, and therefore very easy to temper. The ice cream, your main risks here are not scrambling the egg yolks in the ice cream base when you are making that, and then not overchurning the ice cream itself, which if you are using an ice cream machine, just follow the machine’s instructions and then you’ll be fine. In the case of this recipe, I was testing out whipping the ice cream base with crushed dry ice, which hilariously worked almost as well as liquid nitrogen, so I included measurements for dry ice if you wanted to go that route. The creme fraiche, just mix it with a rubber spatula just until the vanilla and salt incorporate into it, and don’t try to whisk it, and then you will be fine. There is a high chance that if you mix the creme fraiche, it can split and separate, so be very intentional with your mixing of it. So really the only parts where attention and focus are crucial are with making the ice cream base so that you don’t scramble your egg yolks, and not accidentally overmixing the creme fraiche to the point it separates and curdles. Do those two things, and you have yourself a rather otherworldly ice cream dessert!

For the white chocolate nori:
1/2 cup white chocolate
a pinch of salt
6 to 8 strips roasted nori(I used this brand)

Melt the white chocolate with salt over a double boiler completely. Pour the white chocolate onto a sheet of parchment, and then fold the parchment sheet in half. Using either a rolling pin or a long cylindrical object, spread and flatten out the white chocolate between the two halves of parchment into a thin sheet. Separate the two pieces of parchment while the white chocolate is still not solidified, and then spread the nori onto one of the white chocolate layers. Then sandwich back on the other sheet of white chocolate, re-flattening the white chocolate against the parchment just to guarantee that everything is a smooth, even layer. Refrigerate the white chocolate for at least 10 minutes, or until fully set, before snapping into smaller pieces.

For the kombu ice cream:
3.5g dried kombu
12oz whole milk
4oz heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract or bean paste
10oz dry ice, finely smashed*

Over an open flame, roast the dried kombu for 10 seconds on each side. Steep the kombu pieces into milk and heavy cream on medium-high heat until the liquid begins to simmer. Then transfer the mixture into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Strain out the kombu at this point, and return the dairy to a pot on medium heat. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and sea salt. Pour half of the warmed dairy over that while whisking the egg yolk-sugar mixture. Then pour the egg yolk-sugar mixture into the pot with the rest of the warmed dairy. Whisk everything on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then pass everything through a sieve and add to that the vanilla. Allow the ice cream base to cool down before attempting to churn.

If you are using an ice cream maker, follow your maker’s instructions. If you want to use a food processor, freeze the ice cream base solid, then puree in the food processor, then re-freeze the ice cream for another hour. If you are using dry ice, crush the dry ice into a fine powder. Whip the ice cream base in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on low speed and add into that the dry ice, whipping everything together until all of the mist dissipates. Add about half of your white chocolate-covered nori to the ice cream, and freeze the ice cream for at least 1 hour before attempting to serve.

For the whipped creme fraiche:
4oz creme fraiche
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

In a bowl, mix everything together. Keep refrigerated until time to plate.

To garnish:
Toasted and salted macadamia nuts

To start, place down a small amount of crushed macadamia nuts first. Scoop a ball of ice cream on top of that and garnish the sides with the white chocolate-covered nori. Add a small dollop of the creme fraiche on top, and garnish with a little more of the crushed macadamia nuts to finish.