Making Rose's Luxury's Pork Sausage & Lychee dish at home?

[Bart]

Has anyone tried to make Rose's "Pork Sausage with Coconut-Chile Sauce and Lychees" at home?

Bon Appetit posted the recipe in September:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pork-sausage-with-coconut-chile-sauce-and-lychees#recipe-ingredients

There is some interesting info in the comments section regarding the coconut sauce:


- I am still waiting for the coconut milk to reduce by half. It's been 30 minutes, not 10-15.

- The coconut sauce though is not as thick as in the picture; and I understand that the restaurant may only use the creamy part of the coconut milk. This being said though, the coconut sauce was very good and since it is used as a dressing, it was ok in my books if it was not as thick as in the picture.

And one from Epicurious:

- I've had the pleasure of eating this wonderful dish a few times in the restaurant, so I'm obliged to point out that the recipe as written omits the whipped coconut milk--a key textural note in the finished product. Also, as written it calls for a half cup of oil? No, thanks. The infused coconut milk also isn't quite right--the habanero is too pronounced done this way. Instead, I cook a bit of habanero in with the sausage. Whip the coconut cream (from the top of the can), and use the coconut milk (from the bottom of the can) as your base for the dish. DIsh each portion in a separate bowl. It all tastes better if it sits for a few minutes, letting the flavors mingle. Then tell your guests to stir theirs well. Each mouthful should include all the crunchy/sweet/fluffly/salty/herby/nutty notes.

Has anyone attempted this dish at home?

Did you do anything different with the coconut milk ala the comments above?

I'm not sure I even understand the comment from Epicurious  in bold - - - what do I do with the whipped stuff from the top of the can?  And what is the "base of the dish" referring to?

Any other advice on the dish would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Bart

[astrid]

I'm not sure why they opted for coconut milk rather than coconut cream.  I'd sub in Trader Joe's coconut cream, which should be sufficiently fatty to whip without needing any reduction.

[Bart]

Thanks for that tip.  I didn't have any coconut cream at home, but I'll be sure to try it next time.  That may be the key to the whole dish!

I also better understand what that one commenter was talking about by separating the thick cream from the liquid, but not really.  I pulled the thick cream off the top and put it in the mixer to whip it.  I took the thin, watery stuff from the bottom of the can and simmered it with the habanero for 15 mins or so to thicken it per the recipe.  I then strained the pepper out, added sugar and vinegar, again per the recipe, but it was still very thin and liquidy.  I then figured I'd add some (maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the liquid) to the thick, whipped cream in the mixer to incorporate some of those flavors (the habanero, vinegar and sugar) - - - Fatal Mistake!!!   The formerly thick cream got very watery and never recovered no matter how long I whipped it.

From looking at the photos of this dish on Yelp, the cream that Rose's serves is very think and fully stands up on its own.  Theirs looked like a dollop of whipped cream where mine looked like melted ice cream.

Next time I try this I'm going to completely skip the "simmering the coconut milk with habanero" step and take Astrid's advice and just use thick part of coconut cream (probably 2 cans worth) and just whip that up until it's thick.   I'll also do what the commenter said and add the habanero to the pork while it's cooking (I actually did that last night).  Not sure what, if anything I'll do about the sugar and vinegar that was supposed to be added to the cream after simmering.

Here's a shot of my attempt (3 bowls).  As you can see, the cream is nowhere to be seen, but it's in there......in a puddle on the bottom!  The other shot of the "upright" cream is a Yelp shot of the actual dish from Roses.

I was happy with this first attempt.  It was a decent reproduction of the dish.  Tweaking the cream step will bump it up a couple notches, but I'll probably have to go back and sample the real thing a few more times to really nail it.........I'll be a sacrifice, but I'm willing to endure it in order to perfect this dish!