How To Make Chinese Ginger Milk Curd

Milk softens the sharp taste of the ginger. Photo Credit: Tracy Shi

By TRACY SHI

Ginger. People who know it can imagine the spiciness kicking in at their tongue. But ginger is actually very beneficial. Growing up, my mother always told me that ginger with brown sugar can relieve period pain as well as an upset stomach since it is an anti-inflammatory.

The smell of ginger may be a big “no” for many people, but the perfection of ginger milk curd eases that spicy taste. This Chinese dessert’s milky taste mixes in with the ginger juice, making it easier to swallow and digest.

Legend has it that the ginger milk curd originated from a town named Shawanzhen in Guangdong province. An elderly woman had a coughing problem for a long time and knew that ginger juice could solve her dilemma. However, ginger was too spicy for her, and she disliked the taste. Her daughter-in-law accidentally spilled milk into the ginger juice, and after a while, the milk and juice solidified, to her surprise. The mother in law drank it and loved the refreshing taste. The next day, her coughing gradually got better, and her renowned ginger milk curd soon spread from town to town and village to village. Now, it is a dessert shared by the Chinese people nationally.

I decided to make this dessert because I was watching a Chinese television show when one of the hosts - who is a great chef and actor - decided to make it for the guests on the show. One of the guests on the show has a background from the Guangdong province, which inspired the chef, Mr. Huang, to make the dessert. Thus, I became inspired by him and decided to make it myself, since it was so easy and accessible at home.

The way to make ginger milk curd is really simple, and the ingredients are also a bare minimum that can most likely be found in your kitchen and fridge.

The ingredients are: one knob of ginger, whole milk (for better taste, use buffalo milk), and sugar. That’s it!

The materials are one zester (I used Microplane), a simple fruit peeler, a kitchen filter mesh with a long handle (to filter out the ginger and the juice), and two pots (one with an insert).

The procedure is as follows:

Step 8: Steaming the mixture. I’m making two servings.

Peel the skin off the ginger. You don’t have to, but I thought it was cleaner to do so.
After the skin is completely peeled, use the zester to zest the ginger into a bowl. Dice the rest of the ginger.
Then, use the filter mesh to squish the juice out of the diced ginger into the bowl. Just press the diced ginger through the mesh with a spoon. You can make multiple bowls. Each bowl should have two spoonfuls of ginger juice.
Dump a bowlful of milk into the first pot over high heat. Do not close the lid of the pot. If you’re making multiple bowls, each ginger juice bowl should only get one bowl of milk.
Grab the other pot and boil a thin layer of water inside (about 1/2 inch). It’s good if you have a metal insert / divider or something similar so you can put the bowls on the insert instead of placing them right on the boiling water. It would also be better if it is a big pot, because you could put more serving bowls inside to steam, instead of steaming them one by one.
The original pot of milk should start to bubble up a little. When you see the corners of the milk start to form little bubbles and steam is rising quickly from the pot, turn off the heat. Don’t wait until the milk actually starts to boil.
Stir the ginger juice right before you pour the milk in because some of the juice will get sticky on the bottom of the bowl. After you stir, pour the hot milk from the pot into the bowl. Do NOT stir the bowl now or do anything involved with stirring!
Place the bowl inside the pot of boiling water, close the lid, and let the water boil inside with the bowl for 10-15 minutes.
To test if it is ready, use a spoon to place on top of the milk curd and see if it stays still, to see if it has a curd texture. If so, it’s done.
Let the bowls sit still and cool, since it would be really hot to eat them right away. And in fact, it tastes better cold because the hotter it is, the more spicy the ginger is going to taste in your mouth! I would advise you to refrigerate the bowl for 30 minutes or more.

I cooked this for myself because my parents and younger siblings did not enjoy the taste of ginger; my mom and dad would never drink anything associated with ginger unless they needed to, and my siblings hate the smell of it. Oh well!

But after trying it myself, I was very surprised by the idea and how it solidifies. I wouldn’t eat raw ginger, but I love drinking milk. However, I do not advise drinking this every day, since ginger is a pretty strong ingredient, and too much can cause throat and mouth irritation and abdominal discomfort. Plus, too much of anything is bad for the human body. Eat one bowl, and you can save the rest for later or even tomorrow!