Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Skin Dessert (白果腐竹薏米糖水)

Whenever I host gatherings or get invited to potluck parties, the most requested for item from my friends is usually Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Skin dessert. It's a "comforting" dessert of choice and a popular favourite, especially amongst the ladies, as this dessert is believed to have 'cooling' and ‘moisturizing’ properties under Traditional Chinese Medicine studies.

In fact, this dessert is a personal favourite of mine and I need to have it on a monthly basis. I don't think my version is much different from most recipes out there but as requested by a couple of friends, here's the recipe.

Ginkgo Barley Beancurd Skin Dessert

(Serving for 15 to 20 person, depending on the amount of water added.)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup of barley

Beancurd skin, 2 to 3 sheets depending on personal preference

I love having lots of bean curd skin, so I will usually use 3 sheets no less. If I simmer the dessert long enough, the soup will take on a slightly milky consistency. You will be able to detect wafts of soya bean fragrance while the soup simmers on and although faint, you will be able to taste soya bean milkiness when it's done.

There is a few versions of beancurd skin available in the market, do pick up the paper thin version.

Tip: I will usually choose the paler ones instead of those with richer yellow hues.

6 leaves of pandan, tied into 2 bundles

Tip: Smacking the bundles with the base of a ceramic mug makes it easier for the essence and fragrance to be rendered out from the leaves.

1 can of ginkgo nut, boiled and shelled

1 cup of rock sugar, can be varied depending on personal preference

2 cups of unsweetened soya bean milk, adjust the amount of rock sugar if sweetened soya bean milk is used



Steps

1. Rinse the barely in water 2 to 3 times and drain dry.

2.  Fill a large pot with 1.5 liters of water and bring to boil.

3. While waiting for the water to boil, soak the beancurd skin in water.

4. Add the barley in the pot once the water start to boil and turn the heat down to medium. Stir every 15 min and lower the heat further if the barley starts to stick on the bottom.

Tip: Do not lid up the pot or you will get to meet an angry foam-spewing pot and earn yourself a hot mess to clean.

5. By the time the barley fluff up a bit (refer to picture for reference, it should take approximately half an hour), drain off the water from the beancurd skin and rinse it with another round of water before adding to the pot as well.

Tip: I would usually start to separate the sheets and tear them in to palm size pieces at this point.

6. Add the pandan leave bundles and lower the heat further to low and continue to simmer and stir regularly.

7. Top up the water if you notice a noticeable reduction of the water level. 

8. Drain and rinse the ginkgo nuts and add into the pot after the barley, beancurd skin and pandan leaves have been simmering for approximately half an hour. You should be able to see the the barley is further fluffed up this time round.

9. Stir regularly and simmer as for another half an hour or more. The more you simmer the soup, the better the flavors meld. Add soy milk as you go and more water,  if you prefer your dessert to be more runny.

10. Add rock sugar and stir until you can't hear any solid rock sugar clinking against the pot.

Tip: Always add little by little and taste as you go! Seasoning, once added, is difficult to reverse.

11. Remove the pandan leaves, off the heat and your dessert is ready! Serve it either hot or cold.

 

As for my personal preference, I like mine to have a slightly starchier consistency. Hence I'll usually increase the frequency of stirring while it simmers for another additional hour.

Please remember to store in the refrigerator or always bring the dessert to a boil at the end of the day if there's leftover.

Some recipes include eggs or candied winter melon but I enjoy mine without. I can over simmer at times, all I need to do is to add more soya bean milk and it'll be still as yummy.

Earl Gray Milk Tea Cookie

Earl Grey, the tea that I drank most during my university hostel days… I am referring to those sobriety days that no parties were going on. The waif of this bergamot scented tea can bring back so many memories of those angsty yet audacious pre-adulthood days.

I’m pretty sure there are some scents, certain taste or even a song that can evoke some kind of fond or even weird memories in every one of us. Earl Grey is one for me, hence when I thought of the idea of incorporating tea into a cookie recipe, the candidate was too glaring to miss.

Here’s a little history on this tea blend. According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, using bergamot in particular to offset the prevalence of lime in the local water. Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others, which is how Twinings came to market it as a brand.

I also found out that bergamot in Earl Grey tea has been known to have a calming effect on people, as well as to boost a person’s mood. This is due to bergamot’s natural aromatherapy qualities. In this way Earl Grey is a good natural solution for people suffering from depression, stress and anxiety. When I was reading this, I started to wonder if this has anything to do with my immense preference for this tea during those days…

After getting to know more about Earl Grey tea, I could not wait to make a batch of Bam!-Earl-Grey-aroma-in-your-face cookies!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

15g of corn starch

185g of plain flour

60g of ground almond

Wet Ingredients

5g of Earl Grey tea

50g of milk

150g of unsalted butter (room temperature)

100g of icing sugar

1 egg yolk

¼ tsp vanilla essence

Optional Ingredient

1 egg white

Steps:

1. Measure the dry ingredients, mix well and store in refrigerator.

2. Warm milk over low heat, avoid boiling the milk. Add Earl Grey tea and simmer for 2mins, remove from heat source and leave the tea to steep for 5 to 10min.

3. Strain the tea leave from the mixture, scoop 1tsp of the tea leave and add it back into the Earl Grey infused milk. Cool and store in refrigerator.

4. Cream the butter and icing sugar with a whisk in a big bowl until you get a smooth and creamy consistency. The mixture should lighten considerably to a creamy white colour.

5. Add the beaten egg yolk in bit by bit (I added mine in 3 portions) and mix well after each portion. Add vanilla essence and mix well.



6. By now the Earl Grey milk tea should be chilled enough, add this into the wet mixture bit by bit and mix well.

Note: Chilling the milk tea prevents cooking of the butter and egg yolk in the mixture. It also increases the viscosity of the mixture which I find to be more manageable. 

7. Take out the dry mix from the refrigerator and add it into the wet mix in 4 portions. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

Do not over mix, stop once you see the last dry bit disappear. In fact, I will save that last fold and leave the final bits of dry ingredients in the cookie dough.

8. Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap roll the cookie dough into a log of about 4cm in thickness. Reduce the thickness of the roll if you want smaller cookies. Wrap tightly and keep in the freeze for 1 to 2 hours.

I got so focused and engrossed into making the roll that I complete forgot to snap a photo. So I sheepishly found one online that has close resemblance of what I did.

Courtesy from www.thelittleepicurean.com

9. Once the dough firms up to a chilled butter consistency, slice the dough to make cookies. I kept them all at ½ cm thick so that they will bake uniformly.

10. This step is optional, brush some egg white onto each cookie for a glazed finish.

11. Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius and bake the cookies for 20min. Flip the cookies and bake for another 2min.

12. Remove from oven and make sure to cool the cookies completely before packing.

I offered some of the cookies and some were able to detect faint traces of Earl Gary, I personally could not. Hence, expectations of achieving Bam!-Earl-Grey-aroma-in-your-face cookies was not met. however it may be due to me not feeling my best for the past 2 weeks... Well, try this for yourself to find out!

Maybe I should double the dose of tea leave next time or prepare and use Earl Grey infused butter instead… but for this round, they are good enough to have with a cup of steaming hot Earl Grey tea while I reminisce.