Ginger and Milk Pudding

薑汁撞奶
Category: Dessert
Style: Chinese
Difficulty: Easy
Portion: Makes 2 servings

Ingredients
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
4 tsp ginger juice

Procedures
To make ginger juice: grate fresh ginger with a grater. Pass through a sift and press with a spoon to obtain juice.
Put 2 tsp of ginger juice at the bottom of each of 2 bowls.
Put milk and sugar in a saucepan. Attach a candy thermometer to the inside of the pot.
Bring milk to a boil, about 95C. Remove from heat. Stir milk to lower its temperature to 75C.
Pour milk vigorously into prepared bowls. Let stand 3 minutes and milk will solidify.
Serve immediately.

Tips
The temperature of the milk is critical. Use a thermometer to ensure that the milk is at the right temperature. Candy thermometer is available at kitchen supplies store (like Ming Wo) and most dollar shops.
Milk needs to be between 70C and 80C to solidify. It cannot be either too hot or too cold.
Use Chinese ginger for this recipe. The ginger juice should looks milky. Ginger from Hawaii with clear juice cannot solidify the milk.
The texture of the pudding should resemble very watery sweet tofu pudding. It will not be completely solid like steam custard.
If you want to use skim milk, add 1 tsp of corn starch to the milk for a fuller texture. Make sure that there is no lumps.