Gingko nuts, dried beancurd skin & barley dessert
This is a very common and popular dessert among the Chinese. In fact, it is also my hubby’s all-time favourite. As there are too many good recipes on hand, I had totally forgotten about his request. Last weekend, I had made this dessert especially for him so that I can happily cross out this “long outstanding” and “KIV” request from my checklist.
My references are from the followings:
a) 我的厨房笔记 (you can also find many good Chinese herbal soups here)
b) House of Annie (with steps-by-steps illustrations)
c) 糖心大排挡 cookbook by Chef Tong
Ingredients (A):
1-1.5 liter water (based on own judgement)
4 pandan leaves (washed and tied up a knot)
Ingredient (B):
350g water
120g rock sugar (I personally prefer yellow crystal cane sugar)
4 pandan leaves (washed and tied up a knot)
Ingredients (C):
30 gingko nuts (break shells, soak and remove skin. Use a toothpick to pierce through and remove the bitter core.)
75g dried beancurd skin – approx 1 big piece (break into small pieces, soak until soft and drain)
1 egg (add in 1 tsp water and lightly beaten)
Methods:
1) Bring ingredient A to boil, reduce to low heat and continue to simmer for 30-45 mins.
2) At the same time, bring gingko nuts and ingredients B to boil and reduce heat to medium for 20 mins, till gingko nuts are cooked and softened. Remove pandan leaves and set aside (including the sugar syrup).
3) When the barley splits open (softened), remove pandan leaves. Add in gingko nuts (with the sugar syrup) and soaked beancurd skin, cook for another 5 mins. Taste (add in more rock sugar if necessary).
4) Bring the heat to high for 5 seconds and turn off the heat. Immediately, add in the beaten egg slowly (like a tiny stream) and use a spatula to swirl the dessert in clockwise until the shredded eggs (蛋花) can be seen on the surface. Serve.
Note: This dessert can be served hot or cold.
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This is one of my fave… hope I have time to make it soon hehe… love the bowls u used, the photo is great … I’ve been planning to buy some traditional looking bowls for photography 😉
Wow, what a beautiful bowl. We don’t have any fancy china in our house.
Thanks for the link! Hope your hubby approved of the recipe.
Hi noobcook,
These bowls are my wedding’s gift. They were used to symbolise the meaning of “衣食饭碗“ (to bring more food and clothing to your family).
Hi nate lau,
Tks for dropping by. Of course, the approval was granted. Did you notice the “golden” coaster? I was awarded a GOLDEN MEDAL with the Emperor’s seal for this recipe. Hahaha…! Just joking! What he really gave was a thumb-up. 😉
One of my faves too!
So, looks like 衣食饭碗 is really true since you serve up such good food and dessert – 食. 😀
I like this dessert too.
And your bowl really found it’s way into the 食 of 衣食饭碗! Great!
Hi tigerfish,
Hopefully by contributing the 食，I will get the 衣 in return. Hehehe…!
this is one of my favorite too! Thanks for the comment you left on my blog. I like your pictures. Keep up the good work. 🙂
This is also our family favourite but always wait for my mom to cook…Haa..haa..bcos I dont know how to do..Now i can try it.
Hi mandy,
Tks for your kind comments and encouragement. I will try my best!
Hi linda,
Just like u, I used to drink this dessert cooked by my mom and also MIL. Now I need to cook it by myself becos of the Emperor’s order.
Hi, may I know why you don’t cook the gingko nuts together with the barley?
KY: If you boil them together, you may overcook either one of them. The end result will not be favourable. In addition, the gingko nuts can absorb more sweetness from the rock sugar. 😉
hi i tried cooking the gingko separately. but my gingko nuts (that is halved to removed seed) turned deep yellow and hard with a weird texture.unlike the usual soft and yellow colour.
may i know why?
Em: Hi, did your gingko nuts turn deep yellow and hard with a weird texture before or after cooking? Can you elaborate what does it mean by “weird texture”? When did you buy these nuts? Are they fresh or dried ones?
they are fresh and come with shell b4 i peel them.
after cooking. they shrink and turn deep yellow. weird texture is like part of the nuts is cooked part of them are uncooked. even after boiling in sugar syrup for so long.
Em: After breaking the shell and peeling off the skins, how did your gingko nuts look like? If a portion is dented or has “wrinkles” on its surface, then I suspect that they might not be fresh. Hope it helps. 😉
ahum. i might have crushed some of the nuts while trying to break the shell using the kitchen scissors. XD
for wrinkles i didn’t really notice.
BUT, i did soak them in water for awhile.
because i was thinking i want to clean them before cooking. then i forgotten to take them out from the water. is that the reason why my gingko nuts went weird? 🙁
such a waste. 🙁
Em: I don’t think what you had done to the nuts will cause them to be half cooked and turned weird. I think freshness is the main issue here. Maybe you can consider getting a new batch from a reliable Chinese medicinal shop to try again. Sorry that I can’t help much in your case. 😉