Chef Dimitra
Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)
Chios bitter orange peel rolled into tight coils, blanched through clean waters, then preserved in a clear fragrant syrup for the spoon-sweet tray.
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Chios Ypovrychio Vanilia (Υποβρύχιο Βανίλια Χιώτικο)
Created by
Chios gives vanilla submarine its mastic breath: a pearly spoon sweet stirred stiff, served cold in water, and offered as the simplest kerasma.
Desserts
Greek
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
YieldAbout 900g, enough for 25 small servings
Ypovrychio Vanilia belongs to the old kafeneio glass and to Chios when the mastic is real. It is a spoonful of stiff white vanilla fondant lowered into cold water, eaten slowly from the spoon, sweet bite by sweet bite. Nothing is plated. Nothing is decorated. The pleasure is the cold glass, the pearly pull, and that clean mastic scent at the end.
The whole dish turns on the moment after the syrup boils. You let it cool a little, then beat it until the clear syrup turns white and heavy. Beat too soon and it stays loose. Beat too late and it seizes in dull crumbs. Your eye will tell you: glossy, thick, and folding over itself like satin.
This is one of the smallest Greek acts of hospitality, a kerasma, something offered before anyone asks. I remember it in Thessaloniki homes where coffee arrived first and the glass followed, with the spoon standing inside like a little flag. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, even when the recipe is only sugar, water, mastic, and patience.
Ypovrychio belongs to the Greek spoon-sweet tradition, the small kerasma offered in homes and kafeneia with a glass of cold water. Its best-known vanilla-mastic form is tied to Chios, where masticha comes from the southern mastic villages and has been protected in the EU as a PDO product since 1997. The name means submarine, a plain joke from the way the spoonful is dipped and held under water.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
granulated sugar
Quantity
700g
water
Quantity
240ml
glucose syrup or light corn syrup
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Chios mastic tears (masticha Chiou)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for grinding the mastic
vanilla extract or vanilla powder
Quantity
1 teaspoon extract or 1/2 teaspoon powder
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| granulated sugar | 700g |
| water | 240ml |
| glucose syrup or light corn syrup | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| Chios mastic tears (masticha Chiou) | 1/4 teaspoon |
| granulated sugarfor grinding the mastic | 1 teaspoon |
| vanilla extract or vanilla powder | 1 teaspoon extract or 1/2 teaspoon powder |
Equipment Needed
- •heavy saucepan, 2 liter
- •sugar thermometer
- •stand mixer with paddle attachment
- •clean dry glass jar, 1 liter
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the mastic
Put the Chios mastic tears in the freezer for 10 minutes so they turn brittle. Pound them with 1 teaspoon sugar until fine and powdery. If mastic goes into the syrup in little sticky pebbles, it stays there, and the sweet turns grainy under the spoon. Grind it fine now and it perfumes the whole jar properly.
- 2
Boil the syrup
Combine the 700g sugar, water, glucose syrup, and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan. Set over medium heat and stir only until the sugar dissolves. Once it boils, stop stirring and let it cook until the syrup reaches 116C, soft-ball stage, or until a drop in cold water can be gathered between your fingers into a soft ball.
- 3
Cool before beating
Take the pan off the heat and let the syrup stand undisturbed for 8 to 10 minutes, until the furious bubbling settles and the surface looks glassy. Do not scrape the sides of the pan. Any dry sugar crystals there can seed the whole pot, and then your vanilia becomes sandy instead of smooth.
- 4
Beat until white
Pour the syrup into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Add the vanilla and the ground mastic. Beat on medium speed for 10 to 15 minutes, until the clear syrup turns thick, opaque, pearly white, and pulls in heavy ribbons from the paddle. It should look like stiff fondant, not pour like icing.
- 5
Jar and rest
Spoon the vanilia into a clean dry jar while it is still workable. Press it down to remove air pockets, cover, and leave it at room temperature for at least 12 hours before serving. It firms as it rests, which is exactly what you want for the glass.
- 6
Serve submerged
Fill a narrow glass with very cold water. Twist a small spoon into the vanilia, lift out one rounded spoonful, and lower it into the water. The sweet clings to the spoon like white silk. Eat it slowly, dipping it back into the cold water between tastes. That is why it is called ypovrychio, the submarine.
Chef Tips
- •Use true Chios mastic if you can. Vanilla alone makes a sweet paste, but mastic gives this version its surname. The region is the dish's surname.
- •A sugar thermometer helps, but the cold-water test is older and good enough. The syrup should form a soft ball, not a brittle thread.
- •Store the jar tightly covered at room temperature for up to 1 month. If it stiffens too much, work a teaspoon of warm water into a small portion, not the whole jar.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the vanilia at least 12 hours before serving so it sets properly.
- •Chill the serving glasses and water ahead of time; the cold is part of the sweet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 36g)
Calories
115 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
0 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
29 g
Protein
0 g
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