How to make silky ginger milk pudding, a Chinese-originating magic ginger curd made by combining milk, ginger juice, and optionally sugar for a silky pudding!
Grate, mince, or blend the ginger into a pulp and squeeze out the juice. If you have one, you could also use a juicer. Then transfer the juice to a bowl.
Step 2: Heat the milk
Heat up the milk to 149ºF/65ºC, make sure not to go above that. If you do, then make sure it definitely doesn’t go above 158ºF/70ºC (otherwise, you’ll kill the enzymes that cause the curdling).
If you go above that, then wait for the milk to drop back down to 149ºF/65ºC.If you’re using sugar in the recipe (I recommend ½-1 Tbsp per serving), then add it to the milk while you heat it, so it can melt.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients
Give the ginger juice a quick shake in the bowl and then pour the heated milk over the ginger juice and cover the bowl, allowing it to steam for 10 minutes.If you pour the milk in from a slight height, then it will allow the ingredients to mix better (as we don’t want to stir it at all!)When you remove the cover, the mixture should have turned into a ginger milk pudding with a soft silken-tofu texture.
Step 4: Top and serve
You can enjoy the ginger pudding immediately, while still warm, or allow it to chill/cool down first.Serve the ginger milk curd with your favorite toppings. I used some pistachios, coconut flakes (raw or toasted), lemon zest, and raw honey for sweetness. Enjoy!
How to Store?
Once prepared I recommend enjoying it fresh for the best results. However, leftover ginger milk pudding can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days, covered.
Notes
Top Tips for Ginger Milk CurdBecause this pudding relies on a chemical reaction, it’s not always foolproof. However, I’ve made this several times and have never had an issue, though. I did pick up a few tips before my very first attempt, so that may have helped.
The ginger juice: the enzyme in the ginger that produces the curdling increases in older ginger. For that reason, I recommend using older ginger and making sure to use freshly-squeezed juice, too. I don’t recommend using previously frozen ginger as that may affect the enzymes needed for the curdling.
The optimal temperature: the correct temperature is key in making this ginger milk curd correctly. While 158ºF/70ºC is the best temperature for combining the two, I’ve found that 149ºF/65ºC yields a better texture and results.
Don’t dilly dally: this entire recipe requires a bit of speed. The juice needs to be freshly (FRESHLY freshly) extracted, and, as soon as the milk reaches temp, pour it over the juice and allow it to set.
Make sure to shake the ginger: just before you add the milk, make sure to shake or mix the ginger juice - this will make sure the starch in the juice is mixed up which is critical for the curdling!
Don’t move the mixture: After pouring the milk over the ginger cover it with something and leave it be! Don’t move the bowl or stir the milk or it can impact the curdling process.
More Recipe Notes
Don’t reduce the ginger juice amount: the ratio of ginger juice to milk is important for achieving curdling.
If you want to add sugar: I recommend using 2-3 teaspoons of sugar. If it's not sweet enough, you can use sweet toppings as I did with the raw honey.
Pour the milk quickly: not only will this stop the temperature from reducing further, but it will also help the ingredients to mix better, for optimal curdling.
The temperature of your bowl may impact the pudding: if your bowl is too cold, it may cool down the milk too quickly for the curdling to properly occur. You can pre-warm the bowl/s by filling them with hot water and draining/drying them just before adding the ginger juice and milk.
If the pudding hasn’t set properly: a reader let me know that steaming the pudding (in a steamer basket) for a few minutes may help it to curd if it hasn’t worked well initially. This works best when there’s some sign of curdling, but not fully.
Read the post for more tips and the answers to several FAQs!