Fresh Ginger Milk Pudding "姜汁撞奶" Recipe

As part of my quest to learn more about traditional desserts, I found this cute little recipe. It's a Cantonese dessert that's not very commonly found, and I don't think I'd seen one before this. It's a quivering bowl of milk pudding, made via an interaction between an enzyme found in ginger, which breaks down and reshapes milk proteins into a more solid texture.  

This is one of those recipes where measuring in volume is better than by weight. It's probably an unpopular opinion, given the current trend of measuring everything in the metric system. But some of ingredients are in minute amounts, so unless you own a precise jeweler scale or the likes, you're probably also better off using a teaspoon for measurement.   

Another point of contention for such an easy recipe: I'm going to be a contrarian and say I prefer using low-fat than full-cream milk. I'd tried using both, and I found full-fat milk too creamy, which distracts away from the sharpness of ginger. 

Fresh Ginger Milk Pudding "姜汁撞奶"

Original Recipe from Red House Spice 

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp ginger juice (15g ginger would yield about 1 tbsp of juice)
200ml (1 cup) low-fat milk
8g (2tsp) granulated sugar

STEPS 

Peel the ginger. Using the most abrasive side of a box grater, grate the ginger as finely as you can. Grating whole ginger is preferable to using small pieces of ginger, to avoid any grating mishaps. Set a fine sieve over a bowl, and press the grated ginger through the sieve to collect the ginger juice.  

Portion 1 tablespoon of ginger juice in a bowl. Set the bowl aside. 

In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine milk and sugar. Stir occasionally, keeping a close eye on the milk. When the milk reaches 70°C, remove the pan from the heat (as a rough guide, condensation from the cold milk by the sides of the pot would have fully evaporated around 60C, so that's when you should start using your thermometer.)

Pour the warmed milk into the bowl containing ginger juice. Without stirring, leave the mixture to set in the bowl, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.