CHEF JANICE WONG / A Flavour Bomb

“I visit Japan about three times a year – always for work, though. When I’m there, I like to visit the markets to absorb the culture and find some inspiration for my food.

This dessert here – I call it “Cassis Bomb” – is inspired by what I saw when I was in Japan last April. Cherry blossoms were everywhere and I’ve always found the colours pink and purple really awesome.

We begin by creating a small mound of ice shavings flavoured with Choya (a brand of Umeshu) and Shiso. On top of this, we randomly place some sugar-coated bamboo shoots – I made these from scratch by first soaking Japanese bamboo shoots in Teriyaki sauce and then coating them with sugar – and raspberry crystals.

Next, a hollowed out cassis ice cream ball I created with cassis purée and xanthan gum goes on top. We fill it a little with some yoghurt-and-Umeshu foam, then add a layer of raspberry rice crispies (dehydrated rice coated in white chocolate and raspberry powder). Fill it up with more foam and cover the mouth with a Choya jelly slice.

When I serve it at the restaurant, I usually pair it with cassis Umeshu cotton candy cocktail. It will also go very well with sake since the flavours of this dessert are very fresh, clean and light.”