Double delight from eggs and milk

And it may even be good for your skin 美食史上的又一次偶然造就了顺滑爽口的夏日甜点: 双皮奶

A true lover of food has two stomachs: one for the main course and one for dessert. By Western standards, Chinese cuisine offers relatively few sweet, devilish delights, lacking the likes of cheesecake and chocolate fondue. But, the Chinese revel in a multitude of other desserts, one of which is shuangpinai (双皮奶, double-layered milk) similar to but lighter and healthier than your average pudding. This Cantonese dessert literally means "double skin milk", not exactly the most appetizing of names. The milk skin is a white, radiant alabaster and underneath the two layers is the half-fluid, half-solid milky pudding. This delicious dessert is said to make your skin look more attractive.

Each layer of milk skin has its own unique characteristics: the top is fragrant and sweet, the second tender and smooth. Originating in Guangdong’s Shunde in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the dessert spread across the country largely due to its simple recipe, affordability, and, of course, that creamy, milky taste.

The first layer of shuangpinai forms after heating the milk, a well-known regular occurrence when boiling milk. The second layer is created by heating a mixture of milk, egg whites and sugar. Both layers are yielded by the protein in the milk, the richer the protein, the thicker and heavier the texture.

The process of making double-layered milk is simple enough. All it takes is milk, eggs, sugar, a bowl and a steamer. The only tricky part that requires a bit of trial and error is the forming of the two layers of skin. After warming up the fresh milk, the first layer should cover the surface of the milk. To keep this layer intact, one has to delicately slice a small opening on the brim, and pour the milk slowly out of the opening to add the sugar and egg whites. The mixture should then be gently poured back into the bowl, slowly through the opening, and the first layer should float back up, leaving room for the second layer to form after steaming.

Though the skin is the staple of shuangpinai, for the abstemious this dessert can be altered to make it even lighter on calories by substituting whole milk for nonfat milk. By getting rid of the skin, the cooking process is further simplified, and the milk pudding itself is still just as satisfying - well almost.

Served warm or cold in a small bowl, the milk pudding should tremble slightly at the tap of the bowl, sending small ivory ripples across its creamy surface.

Courtesy of the World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

Recipe | Double-layered Milk

Ingredients (5 servings)

6 parts of egg white 蛋清

500 ml milk 牛奶

30g sugar 糖

1 strawberry 草莓

Method:

1. Separate the egg whites and the yolks. This can be done easily by shifting the yolk from one side of the cracked eggshell to another and letting the egg white drop into bowl.

2. Put sugar in a bowl, and then pour milk onto it. While pouring the milk, stir gently instead of beating to create foam. Keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved so the finished product will not taste grainy. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until smooth.

3. Pour the milk mixture into a bowl slowly while stirring in one direction.

4. Filter the mixture once or twice to get rid of the foam and overly thick parts of the egg white.

5. Pour the filtered liquid into bowls (fill only two thirds of each bowl), cover the opening with a food wrapper and steam for 15 minutes. When the contents become similar to a jellyfish pudding, it is done. Make sure not to steam for too long. Remove the food wrapper as soon as it is done. Put two slices of strawberry on the surface, and voila, it is ready to eat.

The World of Chinese

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/01/2014 page27)