Like many Chinese dishes, this one is also touted for its medicinal qualities. It is supposed to help relieve menstrual cramps and nausea, although I am going to leave that part out if I serve it at a dinner party. For that matter, I'll probably leave that tidbit of information out when I serve it to the boy tonight. Of course, I will take great joy in telling him about it after he polishes off his bowl. "Hey, good news! No PMS cramps for you!"
The allure of this recipe, for me, is that it is best made in a single serving portion. If I want ginger pudding, I make a cup of ginger pudding, not a lake of ginger pudding. It is also versatile. You can serve it warm (traditional) or chilled, much like dofu fa, a Cantonese dessert made from the leftover whey from the tofu making process. In fact, ginger pudding and dofu fa have a similar consistency, which is that of a soft custard.
A note on the ginger for this recipe: you must use old ginger, not galangal or young ginger. Older ginger has more of the protease, the milk curdling agent. Also, the ginger taste is strong! I like the strong ginger flavor, but if you are not expecting it, consider yourself warned.
To make the ginger juice, I used a Japanese ginger grater. As much as I hate one trick ponies, this grater is worth the counter space it takes up because it quickly grates ginger and does not clog up like microplanes and regular graters.
To extract the juice from the pulp, I scooped up the pulp and squeezed it with my hands. Before adding it to the recipe, I also strained the juice since a lot of pulp escaped through my fingers. I grated about an inch of ginger to yield 4 teaspoons of juice, but your results will vary.
Ingredients:
1 cup of whole milk
1 T honey, or to taste
3-5 tsp fresh ginger juice
Combine the milk and the honey in a microwave safe glass. Heat the solution to roughly 140-170 °F (there should be a ring of bubbles around he glass and you can comfortable dip your finger into the milk without burning yourself). Using my 1400 W microwave on full power, this was 1:10 minutes.
Pour the ginger juice into a serving bowl. Pour the heated milk and honey solution into the bowl and DO NOT STIR. Wait 10 minutes, and then enjoy! If you prefer, you can make this ahead of time and serve it chilled.
In the picture below, you can see how the pudding pulls away from the sides of the bowl and how solid it is on the spoon. Like I mentioned before, this has the consistency of a soft custard.
If you experiment with different milks and sweeteners, please report back so I can try, too! I read that traditionally this is made with buffalo milk, but I'm not sure where I can get some of that around here.
3/27/09 Update: Through feedback from others who have tried this and my own experience, the amount of ginger juice needed for this to set varies. Start with 3 teaspoons (1 T) of ginger juice, and if your milk still is not setting after a minute or so, add another teaspoon of juice and mix briefly. Also, this will not work with ultra pasteurized milk.
a) I love custardy things, like flan.
ReplyDeleteb) I love sweet ginger confectionary things. Ginger ice cream is probably my favorite ice cream (it's a tough fight with pistachio, I love pistachio ice cream)
c) I fully intend to make this when my husband is no longer in residence lest I offend his sensibilities. He actually turns green handling anything that may resemble curdled or soured milk. A friend made pancakes with sour cream in them and the expression on his face when he found out was so pathetic. However, this is definitely my speed.
That looks really interesting! I've not come across it before. Almond jello, yes, ginger pudding, not yet. But a local Vietnamese pho restaurant has a ginger creme brulee that is out of this world...
ReplyDeleteWill have to try this.
Doh. First attempt was a failure. First perhaps the milk wasn't warm enough? I poured it on the ginger and nothing happened. Then I got all impatient (after 20 minutes) and stuck the whole thing in the microwave. This time I heated it too much and it split. I was so desperate I actually scooped the solids and ate them. It was so yummy. So much potential, so much waste. I tried with 1% milk because that's all I have. I'll report back when I try again.
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmm.....I love me some ginger!!! This would be the perfect thing to eat when I'm battling a migraine! Ginger is my best friend when I have a migraine!!!
ReplyDeleteI MUST try this! Any other suggestions as to how to grate the ginger? I have a garlic press...would that help at all here?
I did have problems "juicing" the ginger, but I think that's because I was a little prissy about it, however, once I got a sufficient amount of ginger juice, I was able to make a fairly delicious rendition. I used Agave syrup and it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteI use a food chopper and then a filter bag to squeeze the juice out.
ReplyDeleteI have experimented with adding a teaspoon of almond powder and it smell so good!
I prefer cooking the milk slowly on small fire (3-4) until it reaches 175. After pouring the milk into a bowl, I place a lid over it.
I did this by accident, trying to make chai (spiced tea). I went to stir in the sugar and my milk had turned to custard. I couldn't figure out what happened, but a quick google search yielded the answer in terms of your recipe - so thanks for that. Now I just have to see if my husband will "eat" his tea!
ReplyDelete