DEED FRIED ICE CREAM PARCELS WITH RASPBERRY COULIS ADAPTED FROM JAMES TANNER (READY STEADY COOK)

I have dined previously at Hot Basil and on two occasions I've been too full to even try their infamous deep fried ice cream.  Their food is quite ordinary with the only call out being the ox tongue.  People have reviewed this place and confirmed that only the deep ice cream is worth the 45 min-1 hour wait.  Fortunately, last night I had hot pot which can be filling but at the same time you can leave some room for dessert.  The deep fried ice cream at Hot Basil is not like the traditionally biscuit deep fried balls with ice cream inside but a thin crisp deep fried filo pastry dusted with icing sugar filled with vanilla bean ice cream coupled with shredded coconut, sultanas topped with a caramel/honey sauce garnished with one strawberry and a mint.  My verdict - it was really nice and for me  it wasn't too sweet although the caramel sauce may be for some.

Holy Basil deep fried icecream - $13.90

Now being an amateur connoisseur,  I thought why not try and make this delightful dessert?  It doesn't seem to require too many ingredients?  I'm going to make something similar because I'm not going to make the caramel sauce and at this point not going to buy sultanas and shredded coconut.  Instead, I'm going to make James Tanner's recipe instead, "Deep Fried Ice Cream Parcels with Raspberry Coulis".

Preparation time: less than 30 minutes

Cooking time: less than 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients for the Deep Fried Ice Cream Parcels

- 500ml/18fl oz vegetable oil (or olive oil)

- 2 sheets ready-made filo pastry

- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream (I chose vanilla bean ice cream - vanilla bean has black specks and is  refreshing but still very creamy and has a more authentic vanilla taste while french vanilla is more yellow in colour and is very sweet and richer in flavour)

- 1 free range egg, beaten

- 1 tbsp cocoa powder, for sprinkling (I'll have the flakes chocolate and/or pistachios for sprinkling)

For the raspberry coulis

-25g/1 oz raspberries

1 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

Method

1. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy bottomed saucepan until a breadcrumb sizzles in the oil (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous - do not leave unattended!)

2. To make the deep-fried ice cream, lay the filo pastry sheets out onto a flat floured surface.

3.  Place one scoop of ice cream at one end of each filo sheet, then roll up like a spring roll, brushing the pastry edges with beaten egg to bind together and seal the parcel.

4. Carefully place the ice cream filo parcels into the hot oil and deep-fry for 30 seconds, until golden, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towels.

5. To make the raspberry coulis, place the raspberries and icing sugar into a food processor and blend to a puree.

6. To serve, place the deep fried ice cream parcels onto a plate, dust with icing sugar and spoon over the raspberry coulis.

Raspberry is really nice but at the moment during winter, it close to $8 at the supermarket so I have substituted the raspberry for strawberries instead as they are $5 a punnet.  Even blueberries are $6-$7 a punnet (125g) as well.  

Before Hot Basil, we went to Red Sichuan at Canley Vale for hot pot.  Hot pot is a great way to warm yourself up and is very popular amongst asians during the cold winter seasons.  I've been to Red Chili in Chinatown years before and I think they have better sauces and the soup base is tastier although I'm not left feeling exceptionally thirsty after dining at Red Sichuan so there wouldn't be as much MSG added.  My friend didn't like their homemade beef balls as she thought they were strange in taste and another comment from another friend was that it tasted like the insides of sausages.  My take on it was that it was overpowered by too much spring onions and the meat was a bit too chunky.  

Hot pot from Red Sichuan

Overall the experience at Red Sichuan was good but there are better hot pot areas like Burwood and Ashfield I've had in the past.  Still we cannot complain because our bill turned out to be $25 per person and my friend considered that to be cheap and their all you can eat hot pot was $28.80 per person.  We would have opted for the all you can eat option but my friend and I love lamb and that was not part of the $28.80 per person selection menu.  At Shanghai Stories in Chatswood it is $20 per person, which is even cheaper although I'm not sure what they offer for $20.  If you're in the area near Cabramatta, why not drop by at this Red Sichuan restaurant.  It is located at 47-49 Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale and is within walking distance from Canley Vale station.