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Susan Jung


I love fresh apricots and if I'm lucky enough to be in a country where they are grown during the fruit's very brief season, I buy them by the kilo. In Hong Kong, imported apricots are too expensive for anything other than a rare treat. Fresh apricots from China tend to be hard and lacking in flavour but they're fine for these dishes.
Chilled cherry-mint soup with apricot sorbet and roasted apricots 
This is an easy dessert for a dinner party because all the elements can be made in advance. If you have time, though, roast the apricots just before serving so the warm fruit contrasts with the cool soup.
For the apricot sorbet:
800 grams ripe apricots
200 grams granulated sugar
300ml water
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
About 30ml fresh lemon juice, or to taste
About 15ml vodka
For the cherry-mint soup:
800 grams ripe sweet cherries
About 100 grams granulated sugar
80ml water
A pinch of sea salt
5 grams fresh mint leaves
About 10ml fresh lemon juice
For the roasted apricots and to serve:
6 ripe apricots
About 15 grams granulated sugar
Small fresh mint leaves
Make the sorbet so it has time to freeze. Halve the apricots and remove the pits. Put the fruit with the sugar, water and salt in a saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the fruit is soft. Allow to cool then put the fruit and liquid through a food mill fitted with the finest disc (or force the puree through a medium-meshed sieve, pressing on the solids to get as much through as possible). Chill the mixture until very cold then stir in the lemon juice and vodka. Process in an ice cream maker then pack into a container and freeze for at least three hours.
Pull the stems from the cherries and put them (unpitted) into a saucepan. Stir in the sugar, water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a medium flame. Lower the heat, cover the pan partially and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft. Strain the liquid into a bowl and leave the fruit to cool. Remove and discard all the cherry pits. Use a food processor to puree the cherries with the mint. Put the puree through a food mill fitted with the finest disc (or force it through a medium-meshed sieve). Mix the puree with the cherry liquid and lemon juice. If needed, add more lemon juice or sugar. Chill in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Halve the six apricots and remove the pits. Put the apricot pieces cut-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle very lightly with sugar. Roast at 230 degrees for about five minutes, or until they're slightly softened and starting to brown at the edges.
To serve, pour the cherry-mint soup into four shallow bowls. Put three apricot halves into each bowl and scatter with fresh mint leaves. Add a scoop of apricot sorbet and serve immediately.
Apricot-vanilla jam
This is one of my favourite jams. Cooking the jam in two stages helps to keep the fruit in larger pieces in the finished product.
1.5kg ripe but firm apricots
About 750 grams granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
About 45ml fresh lemon juice
Quarter the apricots and remove and discard the pits. Trim off and discard any bruised or soft parts. Put the fruit in a large bowl and taste a few of the pieces to check the flavour. If it is quite sweet, add 750 grams of sugar; if the apricots are tart, add more sugar (up to 1kg in total). Use a sharp paring knife to slit the vanilla bean down its length and scrape out the tiny seeds. Mix the fruit, sugar, vanilla seeds and scraped-out pod in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight in the fridge, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
When you are ready to make the jam, place a colander over a large saucepan (preferably one wider than it is tall to allow for quicker evaporation). Pour the macerated fruit and all the juices through the colander into the pan and let it drain for several minutes. Put the colander back over the bowl to catch any remaining drips and set this aside. Put the saucepan over a medium-high flame and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid comes to the boil. Cook on a medium flame, stirring frequently (so it doesn't boil over) until the mixture reaches the setting point - it should drip off the spoon in sheets, rather than thin droplets. Stir the fruit and any liquid from the bowl into the saucepan. Bring to the boil and skim off the foam from the surface. Simmer over a medium flame, stirring frequently, and lowering the heat as the mixture becomes thicker. When the jam reaches the setting point, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and remove the vanilla pod.
Sterilise some canning jars and lids: pour boiling water over them, leave for 15 minutes then drain them upside down for about five minutes. Ladle the hot jam into the jars and clean the rims with a damp paper towel, then seal tightly with the lids. Bring a large, deep pan of water to the boil and put a small dishcloth on the bottom. Put the jars upright into the pan (on the cloth) so they're covered with water by at least 1cm. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the pan and let them cool at room temperature. Check the seal by tapping on the lid - it should sound firm rather than hollow. If you want to skip the boiling water bath, store the jam in the fridge.
Styling: Corner Kitchen Cooking School
Recipes first published on July 5, 2009


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Susan Jung's recipes

Recipes: Chilled cherry-mint soup with apricot sorbet; apricot jam

Chilled cherry-mint soup with apricot sorbet and roasted apricots. 