Ginger milk curd, also known as ginger-juice milk curd, ginger milk pudding or simply ginger milk, is a
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
hot
dessert
Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...
originated in
Shawan Ancient Town,
Panyu District
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
,
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
in the
Guangdong Province
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
in
southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The main ingredients are
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
,
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
, and
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
.
[
] Water buffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...
milk is used in the original recipe.
Method of preparation
First, cut a piece of old ginger into small pieces and finely grind the ginger. Then, squeeze the juice out by pressing the ginger through a sieve. Put the juice into a bowl. Next, bring the milk to a boil and dissolve
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
in milk. Take off heat and allow it to cool a little. If one is available, place a kitchen
thermometer
A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a merc ...
into the milk. The optimum curdling temperature is .
[
] In the meantime, stir the ginger juice thoroughly. When the milk temperature decreases to around 70-75 °C, pour the milk quickly into the middle of the ginger juice. Wait for two to three minutes. The milk will then be curdled, and may be eaten with a spoon.
Underlying biochemical principle
The most important part of the ginger in ginger milk curd is the ginger protease
zingipain. This substance with molecular weight of 31 kDa is found with three forms of isoelectric point values around 5.58, 5.40, and 5.22, respectively. The three forms have very similar biochemical behavior, where the optimal proteolytic activity is from 40 to 60°C and maximum clotting activity at 70°C.
Milk is a substance consisting mainly of
milk fat globules and
casein micelles in a continuous phase of water, sugar, whey protein and minerals. Casein micelles consist of mainly α(s1)-casein, α(s2)-casein, β-casein, and κ-casein, where hydrophobic α and β-casein are in the inner sub-micelle and hydrophilic κ-casein is in the outer part.
When the milk starts curdling, the curds are small, but as coagulation increases, curd size increases until the milk ends up with a tofu-like structure. When the curdling occurs, the ginger protease cuts open the κ-casein so that the hydrophilic C-terminus and the hydrophobic N-terminus separate. This disrupts the stability of the casein micelle. In the
hydrophobic effect
The hydrophobic effect is the observed tendency of nonpolar substances to aggregate in an aqueous solution and exclude water molecules. The word hydrophobic literally means "water-fearing", and it describes the segregation of water and nonpolar ...
, the hydrophobic casein coagulates.
[Zhang P (1999) Study on Milk Clotting of Ginger juice . China Dairy Industry 27:17–19.]
See also
*
Douhua
Douhua () is a Chinese sweet or savoury snack made with very tender tofu. It is also referred to as doufuhua (), tofu pudding, soybean pudding or, particularly in northern China, tofu brains ().
History
Tofu is thought to have originated in ...
*
Junket (dessert)
Junket is a milk-based dessert, made with sweetened milk and rennet, the digestive enzyme that curdles milk. Some older cookery books call the dish curds and whey.
Preparation
To make junket, milk (usually with sugar and vanilla added) is h ...
*
*
List of desserts
A dessert is typically the sweet course that, after the entrée and main course, concludes a meal in the culture of many countries, particularly Western culture. The course usually consists of sweet foods, but may include other items. The word ...
*
References
External links
Ginger milk curd photos
Chinese desserts
Cantonese cuisine
Curd
Macau cuisine
Puddings
Ginger dishes
Milk dishes
{{China-dessert-stub