Ginger milk curd facts for kids
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| Alternative names | Ginger-juice milk curd, ginger milk pudding, ginger milk |
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| Type | Pastry |
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | China |
| Region or state | Shunde |
| Main ingredients | Ginger, milk, sugar |
| Ginger milk curd | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 薑汁撞奶 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 姜汁撞奶 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Ginger collides with milk | ||||||||||
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Ginger milk curd, also called ginger milk pudding, is a warm and yummy Chinese dessert. It comes from a place called Shawan Ancient Town in Guangdong Province, China. This special treat is made with just a few simple ingredients: fresh ginger, creamy milk, and a touch of sugar. Did you know that the original recipe often uses milk from water buffaloes? It's a unique and tasty dessert that's fun to make and eat!
Contents
How to Make Ginger Milk Curd
Making ginger milk curd is like a cool science experiment! Here's how you do it:
Get Ready!
- First, you need some old ginger. Cut it into small pieces.
- Then, grind the ginger very finely. You can use a grater or a food processor.
- Next, squeeze all the juice out of the ground ginger. You can use a sieve or a cheesecloth to press it. Put this juice into a bowl. This is your secret ingredient!
Heat the Milk!
- Now, pour your milk into a pot. Add some sugar and stir it until it dissolves.
- Heat the milk until it just starts to boil.
- Take the pot off the heat. Let it cool down a little bit. If you have a kitchen thermometer, the best temperature for the milk is about 70–75 °C (around 158–167 °F).
The Magic Happens!
- While the milk cools, stir the ginger juice really well.
- When the milk is at the right temperature, quickly pour it into the middle of the ginger juice. Don't stir it after pouring!
- Wait for two to three minutes. The milk will magically turn into a soft, pudding-like curd. Now it's ready to enjoy with a spoon!
The Science Behind It
So, how does ginger make milk turn into a pudding? It's all thanks to a special ingredient in ginger called zingipain. This is a type of protease, which is a natural substance that can break down proteins.
Milk is mostly made of water, sugar, and tiny protein parts called casein micelles. Think of casein micelles as tiny balls of protein. The zingipain from the ginger acts like tiny scissors. It cuts open parts of these protein balls in the milk.
When the protein balls are cut, they become unstable and start to stick together. This makes the milk thicken and form the soft, tofu-like structure we call curd. The best temperature for this to happen is around 70 °C, which is why we let the milk cool down a bit before mixing it with the ginger juice. It's a simple but amazing chemical reaction!
