Double-Skin Milk
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Double-Skin Milk
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Double-Skin Milk (Simplified Chinese: 双皮奶; Traditional Chinese: 雙皮奶; Pinyin: Shuāng pí nǎi; Cantonese: soeng pei naai; also 双皮炖奶) is a silky Cantonese milk custard from Shunde in Guangdong. Milk—traditionally rich local water-buffalo milk—is heated and left to cool so that a first skin forms; the milk beneath is poured out, mixed with sugar and egg white, returned under the skin and steamed, and a second skin forms as the custard sets. The result is a smooth, lightly sweet pudding somewhat like panna cotta. It is associated especially with Daliang in Shunde and with long-running dessert houses in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau. A popular story credits a Qing-era Shunde dairy woman remembered as "Grandma Dong"; this is a folk origin tale. English-language sources report that the craft was added to Guangdong's provincial intangible heritage list in 2018. It is not ginger milk curd (姜撞奶), not Mango Pudding and not Douhua.[1][2]
Characteristics
Ivory, glossy surface with a faintly wrinkled milk skin; very smooth, trembling custard; clean milky sweetness; served warm or chilled.
Ingredients (overview)
Whole milk (buffalo milk traditionally, cow's milk common elsewhere); egg white; sugar. Popular toppings: red bean, lotus seed, ginger syrup, fruit. Overview only.
History and culture
Grew out of Shunde's buffalo-dairy culture, which also produced fried milk and other milk sweets; spread through Guangzhou and Hong Kong sweet shops in the 20th century and is now sold in chain dessert stores, instant packs and café menus. Modern toppings such as mango, taro balls and tapioca are innovations on a plain classic.[1]
Serving and variations
Small bowl, plain or with red bean; warm in winter, chilled in summer. See Mango Pudding, Almond Tofu, Red Bean Soup and Mango Pomelo Sago.
See also
- Mango Pudding
- Almond Tofu
- Red Bean Soup
- Douhua
- Mango Pomelo Sago
- Guangdong Food
- List of dishes (A-Z)