In our house, we had these tabletop grinder/cooking machines from Joyoung for the longest time. My dad enjoys brewing the occasional soya bean drink with them, one which he could adjust the sweetness and the proportions of soya bean to his preference. But initially, this wasn't something I was captivated by. There were a lot of different functions that the grinder was capable of, but it wasn't something either of us explored very much of. Heck, the machines are even only advertised as 'soymilk makers', which is a really niche market to cater to.
As the years go by though, and as he upgraded to newer and more modern numbers, the quality of the drinks became more and more refined. One day, he whipped up a bowl of Chinese Almond Cream for us, and I was hooked from that point. As the lockdown began this year for the pandemic, I experimented with the grinder more and more, and recreated popular traditional desserts. Even my folks, who are infamously resistant to desserts, now find room for a bowl of post-dinner dessert.
Because we were creating these recipes from scratch (except the black sesame cream, which was based on China Sichuan Food's recipe), it took a bit of trial and error over the last few months to get the proportions to just how we like it. The Joyoung cooker/grinder comes with so many different cooking options (and we seem to have misplaced the manual), it’s been quite a project going through which function works best with each bean.
One tricky part in creating these recipes is our choice of thickening agent. Nailing the right flour makes a big difference to the final product. We finally ended up with glutinous rice flour. Unlike other types of thickening agents which seem to break down with increasing heat, glutinous rice flour thickens up nicely even at boiling temperature. And unlike cornflour, which sometimes impart a lingering aftertaste, glutinous rice flour doesn’t add any taste.
Pouring the glutinous rice flour slurry straight into a hot mixture can cause them to coagulate into lumps. One trick I found working with glutinous rice flour is to treat the slurry as if they are eggs. By first temper the slurry with several tablespoons of hot mixture, then by pouring the slurry into the hot mixture afterwards, allows you to incorporate glutinous rice flour even while the cream is at near boiling temperature.
Next was the inclusion of a large pinch of salt into the recipe. While I was still working on the first of the recipes, the Chinese Almond Cream, my dad remarked that there was a hint of bitterness despite the sugar. I added a sprinkle of salt to his bowl (despite his grave misgivings), which suppressed the bitterness and highlighted the other flavours. Score another one for food science!
These recipes are traditionally served with glutinous rice balls, and store bought ones, typically filled with sweetened crushed peanuts or black sesame, are just fine.
Almond Cream
Calling these Chinese Almonds is a bit of a misnomer, as these are classified as part of the apricot family. Old fashioned Chinese apothecaries should sell mixed Chinese Almond, which you can get. There’s 南杏 (Southern Almonds) and 北杏 (Northern Almonds), and the traditional teaching was that an overconsumption of one type would be bad for health. Most traditional apothecaries would sell premixed portions, but if you’re buying separately, get them in a 1:4 南北杏 ratio.
INGREDIENTS
120g Chinese almond (apricot kernel, 南北杏)
120g Chinese almond (apricot kernel, 南北杏)
1L water
40g sugar
big pinch of salt
40g sugar
big pinch of salt
30g glutinous rice flour
50g water
STEPS
1. Add Chinese almond and water into the Joyoung machine.
2. Cook using setting #3 (米糊)
3. When the machine is done, pass the mixture through the finest sieve you have. Add sugar and salt.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and 50g water. While stirring continuously to prevent clumping, slowly drizzle 2-3 ladles' worth of hot mixture into the small bowl. After the glutinous rice flour has been tempered in this manner, add glutinous rice flour mixture to the almond mixture.
5. Place over medium heat and cook to a light simmer. The almond cream will thicken as it cooks.
6. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Walnut Cream
INGREDIENTS
160g walnut
1L water
Large pinch of salt
80g sugar
20g glutinous rice flour
50g water
STEPS
1. Add walnut and water into the Joyoung machine.
2. Cook using setting #2 (干/湿豆)
3. When the machine is done, sieve mixture and transfer mixture to a pot. Add sugar and salt to mixture.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and 50g water. While stirring continuously to prevent clumping, slowly drizzle 2-3 ladles' worth of hot mixture into the small bowl. After the glutinous rice flour has been tempered in this manner, add glutinous rice flour mixture to the walnut mixture.
5. Place over medium heat and cook to a light simmer. The walnut cream will thicken as it cooks.
6. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Black Sesame Cream
INGREDIENTS
150g sesame
900g water
No need sieve
80g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
20g glutinous rice flour
50g water
STEPS
1. Add black sesame and water into the Joyoung machine.
2. Cook using setting #2 (干/湿豆)
3. When the machine is done, transfer mixture to a pot without sieving. Add sugar and salt.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and 50g water. While stirring continuously to prevent clumping, slowly drizzle 2-3 ladles' worth of hot mixture into the small bowl. After the glutinous rice flour has been tempered in this manner, add glutinous rice flour mixture to the black sesame mixture.
5. Place over medium heat and cook to a light simmer. The black sesame cream will thicken as it cooks.
6. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Soya Bean Drink
Bonus! I wasn't going to include this originally, but heck, the soya bean milk drink is even in the name of the machine, so if you've sprung for a machine, you should at least have a soya bean recipe to work with. Like every other recipe here, feel free to titrate the sugar content to your own taste. After tinkering with the Joyoung machine for a while, I've learnt that using the #2 setting (干/湿豆) yields finer results than #3 (米糊) setting. In this soya bean drink, you aim to get a coarser grain, so it's easier to strain out after.
INGREDIENTS
120g soya bean
1.2L water
1.2L water
1 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
STEPS
1. Add soya bean and water into the Joyoung machine.
2. Cook using setting #3 (米糊)
3. When the machine is done, pass the mixture through the finest sieve you have. Add sugar and salt. Serve warm or chilled.
