Dou hua is made very similar to how tofu is made; hot soymilk plus gypsum and plant starch (in this case, sweet potato). Since marrying a Canto boy, I have learned that most Cantonese call dou hua ‘dau fu fa,’ (tofu flower), whereas all my life in the land of the mostly non-Cantonese (San Gabriel Valley), I’ve heard it as dou hua.
Ingredients:
Dou hua powder 5 grams food grade gypsum 40 grams sweet potato starch Tofu Pudding 1000 grams soy milk, preferably homemade– please read the note below! 22 grams dou hua powder 50 grams water Black sugar syrup 1/4 cup black sugar (hei tang) or dark brown sugar 1/4 cup water Ginger sugar syrup 1/4 cup sugar (white, brown, or those golden-brown slabs they sell at Chinese/Asian markets. Though, those will be hard to measure out) 1/2 cup water 1″ chunk of ginger, thinly cut into several slices, or grated Other add-ins: 1) Yuanzi or yu yuan (Glutinous rice balls or Taro balls) 2) Cooked boba 3) Cooked mung beans 4) Cooked red beans 5) Cooked skinned peanuts 6) Other goodies that float your boat.. Instructions: Dou Hua 1) First, get a large bowl that will fit the twice the volume of the soymilk and then some. If you don’t have a large bowl, you can also use a saucepan or stockpot. Make the dou hua powder by thoroughly mixing the gypsum and sweet potato starch together. 2) Next, heat your soymilk to almost boiling-but-not. While you wait, weigh out half of the dou hua powder (22 grams) into the large bowl or pot, and add 50 grams of water to it. Whisk well to dissolve all the bits. 3) Check on your soymilk – It needs to be at around 195F. If it’s already boiled, let it cool a little before moving on. 4) Whisk the dou hua powder + water mixture again, then in one fell swoop, dump the soymilk carefully into the large receptacle. Do not stir!! 5) After about 15 minutes, the pudding should be slightly jiggly. But, best to just leave it alone. Once it is cool enough to put in the fridge, transfer it to let it completely cool; it will continue to set up. I generally make the dou hua the day before I want to eat it. We eat it cold these days, but you can also heat it up if you want to eat it hot! Black sugar syrup 1) Prepare the sugar syrup by heating the sugar and water in a pot until the sugar dissolves. You can also microwave the sugar and water for about 20 seconds, then stir. The syrup can be used hot, or you can cool it down first. Add whatever add-ins you wish, or just enjoy your dou hua with the sugar syrup. Ginger sugar syrup 1) Add sugar, water, and ginger to a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, or until the syrup is gingery enough for you. 2) Strain the ginger pieces out. Substitutions/Notes: -If you want less concentrated versions of these syrups, to make a ‘soup’ for your dou hua, add about 2 times the amount of water indicated. -Gypsum…what?! Buy this FOOD GRADE gypsum powder at home brewing stores, Amazon.com, MySpiceSage,com , or if you are bold, your local Asian grocery store. Often times, the specifications/labelling can be a bit dodgy/questionable on the imported Asian goods, so just proceed with caution. -On soy milk: I am guessing that 99% of you would buy the soymilk for this. In which case…YOU MUST NOT USE brands of soymilk that have additives- e.g. Silk, Seventh Generation…etc! These have thickening agents and other additives that will mess with the composition of the dou hua. Read the label, and only use soymilk that only has soybeans and water in the ingredients. -How much of the toppings do I need? Up to you. For me, I want to keep dou hua the star of the dish, so I don’t add tooo much. For beans, you can start with 50-75 grams of raw beans to cook. |
|