Ginger Milk Pudding (姜汁撞奶)

During May/July 2010, I was busy experimenting Ginger Milk Pudding (姜汁撞奶).  It was a big hype back then to succeed in creating this Ginger Milk Pudding in Singapore.  Of course I had my fair share of disappointment.

My favourite stall comes from Hong Kong and I will never fail to get my servings whenever I am there.  There will be times that it was a daily dose throughout my stay.   I know, nothing is good if excessive.  

Personally I find those that are available here lack the taste as well as the consistency.

Thus when I found out that Little Thumbs Up theme is Ginger, I knew straight away that I will have to revisit this recipe.

Who knows after 3 years, there might be new discovery for this mysterious dessert that doesn't need any solidifying agent to set the milk.  

Theory was that you needed old ginger to make this works because old ginger has this starch (after you extract the juice) that is able to gel the milk into solid or pudding stage.

So once again, I am attempting two recipes here.  

One is commonly found on the web and the other by Kitchen Tigress who used quite a fair amount of ginger juice.

On the web:

Verdict: It passed the spoon holding test.  

Texture wise is smooth.  The taste is really yummy.  

Kitchen Tigress:
Verdict: It passed the spoon holding test as well.

Texture wise is a little watery and there was a hint of bitterness.  I am not sure whether this is due to the large amount of ginger juice used.

I have tried three ways of abstracting ginger juice by grating, by using a microplane and by using mortar and pestle to pound out the juice.

In the end, I feel that pounding works best in extracting the juice though it is a little more work on slicing and dicing.

Also that I find that it sets much better after chilling for a few hours.

Overall, I prefer the following recipe. 

What you need:
Makes 4 servings

1 litre of fresh milk
8 tsp of sugar
8 tsp of old ginger juice

Method:

Deskinned ginger with a knife using scrapping method.  Sliced and diced ginger to as small as possible.  Using a mortar and pestle, pound it and extract juice.  Measure out 2 tsp per serving in a bowl.  Set aside.

Place fresh milk into a pot and turned off heat once you see bubbles at the side of the pot.

Put sugar into a measuring jar and pour in hot milk over it.

Using a thermometer, once it hit 70 deg C, immediately pour into the bowl at a height of 10cm to ensure even distribution of the ginger juice and milk.  DO NOT STIR.

Let it sit till cool and chill in the fridge.

Serve cold.  


Anyway, you can't get enough of this good stuff.  

I am submitting this post to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.   Hosted by Chef and Sommelier.