Douhua

Ingredients

Soy milk

• 200 gdried soya beans, soaked overnight
• 1.5 litreswater

Coagulant

• 3 gfood-grade gypsum, calcium sulfate
• 10 gcornflour or sweet potato starch
• 60 mlwater

Ginger syrup

• 150 gbrown sugar or rock sugar
• 300 mlwater
• a thumb of ginger, sliced

Toppings

• cooked peanuts
• tapioca pearls
• cooked red or mung beans
• taro balls
• sweet potato

To serve

• warm in winter, over crushed ice in summer

Directions

1. Soak the dried beans overnight until they double in size and split easily between your fingers. Blend them with the water, then strain through muslin, squeezing hard to extract everything. Bring it to a boil and keep it boiling gently for at least seven minutes, stirring so it does not catch. Skim off the foam as it rises.
2. Mix the gypsum and starch with the cold water into a thin slurry in the bottom of the serving bowl. The starch is not traditional everywhere but it helps give a smooth, stable set, and it is widely used in Taiwan.
3. Stir the slurry again right before use, since gypsum settles almost immediately. Let the boiled soy milk cool to about 85°C, which takes a few minutes off the heat. Too hot and the curd sets coarse and grainy, and too cool and it will not set at all or sets weakly.
4. Pour the hot soy milk into the bowl of slurry from a height of about thirty centimetres, in one steady stream. Pour it fast and from a height so it mixes thoroughly on impact, which is the only mixing it gets. Do not stir it, do not move the bowl, and do not touch it for at least thirty minutes.
5. Skim off any surface foam with a spoon, gently, before it sets. Cover it loosely with a plate to hold the heat and let it set undisturbed. It is ready when the surface is firm to a light touch and a spoon comes away clean.
6. Simmer the sugar, water and sliced ginger for fifteen minutes until slightly reduced and strongly gingery. Scoop the curd in wide flat slices with a shallow ladle or a flat spoon, rather than digging into it. Scooping it in thin layers is deliberate, since it keeps the flakes intact and it is how it is served at every stall.
7. Ladle it into bowls, pour the syrup over and add whatever toppings you like. Serve it warm in cold weather and over crushed ice in summer, both of which are standard.

Technique

• Northern China eats the same curd savoury, as doufunao.
• Soy milk must be boiled for several minutes for safety and flavour.
• The curd must be left completely undisturbed while it sets.

Substitutions

• Nigari in place of gypsum, giving a firmer set.
• Good unsweetened soy milk with no additives, though homemade is better.

Variations

• Savoury doufunao with soy sauce, chilli oil and pickles.
• With taro balls and sweet potato, in the Taiwanese style.
• Served cold over crushed ice with syrup.

Frequently asked questions

What is Douhua?

Douhua is a dessert from Taiwan: silken tofu pudding in ginger or brown-sugar syrup with peanuts or tapioca.

How long does Douhua take to make?

Douhua takes 20 min plus soaking of preparation and 30 min, plus 30 min setting of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Douhua?

Yes, within limits. Nigari in place of gypsum, giving a firmer set. Good unsweetened soy milk with no additives, though homemade is better.

What is the most important thing to get right in Douhua?

Pour the hot soy milk into the bowl of slurry from a height of about thirty centimetres, in one steady stream. Pour it fast and from a height so it mixes thoroughly on impact, which is the only mixing it gets. Do not stir it, do not move the bowl, and do not touch it for at least thirty minutes.