自家製營養豆腐花 Homemade Nutritious Soya Milk Jelly

小時各種在街頭或路邊小店賣的甜品中，我最喜歡豆腐花。長大出來做事後，在外面與朋友吃飯時，碰巧那酒樓飯店有豆腐花在餐牌上的，我也一定會點來作飯後甜品。婚後每次回港，也要尋訪三两間做得出色的，吃過了才覺滿意。

When I was a child, among all the sweet things they sold in the street stalls or little pudding shops, I loved " Tofu fa" - Bean curd custard - the most.  When I grew up and started working, every time  I ate out with friends or colleagues, if the restaurants had got "Tofu fa" on the dessert menu, I would definitely choose it.  After I got married, each time we went back to Hong Kong, I usually sought out a few places which made the best version of my favourite pudding..

孩子們小時，我常給他們弄豆漿喝；卻始終猶疑地不會做豆腐花。老公常笑我，吃了那麼多年用石膏粉做的，也不見對你有甚麼壞處！為甚麼給自己孩子吃就不放心呢？後來我想用明膠粉來做，英國那場駭人的瘋牛症就爆發了！因為明膠粉是由動物的筋骨和腸臟等提鍊出來的，那時大家都暫時停止了採用明膠。於是要自己做豆腐花的心願便一直擱置多年。

Then I have children of my own, I made soya bean milk for them regularly; but have always reluctant to try making the tofu custard. My husband laughed at me, saying consuming the Gypsum powder in the Tofu fa all these years didn't seem to have done me any harm, why would I worry about giving it to our children! I've considered using the gelatin, but then the horrifying  mad cow decease broke out in the UK; as gelatin derived from collagen obtained from various animal by-products, everybody was stopped using it at that time. So my wish of making my own tofu custard has been put to one side all these years.

上两星期在超市內碰見一位鄰居。她說女兒的两位好友，一個不能吃牛乳類產品，一個不吃葷；來玩時要給她們做蛋糕甜品真的很傷腦筋。我對她提議並討論了用豆奶和瓊膠 agar - agar 的食譜；她歡天喜地的親了我離去。

A couple of weeks ago, I bumped into a neighbour in the supermarket. She said two of her daughter's best friends are coming to play; as one of them can't eat dairy products, one of them is vegetarian, making desserts for them always a problem. So I suggested recipes with soya milk and agar agar, she kissed and thanked me as we said good bye.

回家路上我便細想，要是我將豆奶和瓊膠放在一起，不就成了豆腐花嗎？

On the way home I thought to myself, if I mix soya milk and agar together, it will become soya milk jelly - tofu custard, won't it?

瓊膠即是瓊脂，又名洋菜或燕菜；我記得在香港時是叫大菜的。英文是 agar - agar 或單稱 agar。是一種純植物性的膠凝劑，來自海底生長的石花菜；含有豐富的水溶性纖維，具有排毒、養顏和降血壓等對人體有益的保健功能。

Agar or agar-agar, is a pure vegetable gelling agent, from seaweed which grown at the bottom of the sea. It contains a lot of mineral and water-soluble fibre. It can provide detoxification, serve as a intestinal regulator,  lowering blood pressure, beautifying and so on; all these health benefit effects.

古老方法是漁民採回後重覆用清水洗淨曬乾數次，除去腥味後用紗布包好，吃時用大鍋慢煮成石花凍。商業的生產法則是把石花菜的膠原成份提鍊出來，製成條狀或粉末出售。中國稱做「瓊脂」，港澳两地稱之「大菜」，台灣取用其學名「洋菜」，日本則喚以「寒天」。現今已普遍地成為東西方美食的天然營養食材之一。美國食品藥物管理條列為公認安全的產品，獲准作為食品添加劑，載入食品化學品食典之中。

Traditionally fishermen harvest them, after washing and sun-drying them a few times, they then wrapping them up in cloth to store. When need it, put some in a pan to boil on a low heat for a few hours to make into a jelly pudding. Commercially, the gelatinous substance is derived and extracted by boiling, then made into dried long strips or in powder form to sell. According to the US Pharmacopoeia, agar is allowed and classified as a natural food addictive.

自家製營養豆腐花
‧( 4- 6 人份 )

材料：

• 超市出售或自製豆奶 / 豆漿 2 pint
• 砂糖 2 - 3 湯匙隨意 ( 可以不加 )
• 瓊脂粉 Agar ( or agar-agar) 2 包 - 在英國可以在 Asda 或 Waitrose 買到，甚至可以在 Amazon 網上訂購。在 Asda 賣的只叫做 vegetarian gel, 但在包裝背後會註明是 Agar。用時根據包裝上指示用照比例的豆奶做適當的份量便可。 
• 煲 1 隻，蛋拂 1 支
• 量杯 2 個
• 盛豆腐花的大碗或小杯隨意

做法：

1. 把 2 包瓊脂粉倒進煲內 ( 每包 10g )，從 2 pint 豆奶中倒出 400ml 奶進另一量杯去 (這是包裝上指示的份量)。
2. 把倒出的 400ml 豆奶傾進煲內拌勻，然後把餘下的豆奶和砂糖全加進煲內一起拌勻。
3. 置爐上用中小火煮滾後，讓其繼續滾 2 分鐘 ( 如火太猛的話要移到小火去)。注意別讓奶滾瀉和烘焦，期間要不時攪拌以防黏底。-- 這是 Asda 賣的 vegetarian gel 做法。每個牌子的 Agar 用法指示不同，要根據所購包裝方法才好。
4. 煲好的瓊脂奶可直接隔著鋼篩倒進大碗或小碗內，然後用匙羹首先撥去泡末，5 - 10 分鐘後豆奶上會有層薄膜凝結，也可以用匙羹把這薄膜小心取出。靜置 1 小時後便成為豆腐花。

Homemade Nutritious Soya Milk Jelly

( serves 4 - 6 )

Ingredients:

• 2 pint supermarket or homemade soya milk 
• 2 - 3 tbsp caster sugar ( according to taste )
• 2 sachets Agar ( agar - agar ) 10 g each - you can buy them at Asda or Waitrose in the UK, or order from Amazon. If you buy them from Asda, they just called it vegetarian gel, but at the back of the package, the ingredients says it is Agar. Use it according to the instructions.

          A small pan and a whisk

          2 measuring jugs

          1 big bowl or a few small ones to put the soya milk jelly in to set

Steps:

1. Put the 2 sachets Agar in the pan, pour 400ml soya milk from the 2 pint milk jug into another measuring jug ( this is the instructions on the packet of the Agar I used).
2. Add the 400ml milk into the Agar in the pan to mix well, then pour the rest of the milk and sugar in and stir thoroughly until completely dissolved.
3. Heat the mixture on medium low heat to boiling point for 2 minutes. Stir occasionally, pay attention not to let it burn to the bottom or over spill. -- this is the instructions on the back of the Asda vegetarian gel. Just follow the instructions of the brand that you use.
4. The mixture is now ready to pour through a metal mesh sieve into a big bowl or a few small bowls to set. You can skim the top with a spoon to get rid of the air bubbles, and after  5 - 10 minutes when a thin layer of skin starts to form, carefully remove it with a spoon too. Then an hour later, the soya milk jelly should be firm enough to serve.

左：黃冰糖   中：片糖    右：棕櫚糖
left: yellow rock sugar   middle: brown cane sugar   right: palm sugar

自己做糖漿：

• 可選用任何種類的糖，如上列各款的糖甚至砂糖也可以。當然每種糖做出來的糖漿味道都有點不同，可以每款做少許作嘗試，日後便知道各樣口味了。做好的糖漿存放在乾淨的瓶子裏、置冰箱內可存 3 個月。用途很多，可以加進凍檸檬茶、凍咖啡奶茶、雞尾酒；淋在 pancake 上，加進豆腐花同吃等等。

做法：

1. 1 份的糖加 1 份的水。舉例： 200g 糖 + 200ml 水 。 
2. 小煲內加進糖和水，先用大火煲滾糖水，可以畧為攪拌以防黏底。然後轉小火繼續煲至糖完全溶化後再煮 5 分鐘左右至畧稠便成。

Homemade syrup：

• You can use any type of sugar, like the ones above or just granulated sugar. Of course each type of sugar produce different flavoured syrup, you may want to experiment with making a little at a time to find out for future references. Homemade syrups can be stored in cleaned disinfected jar and leave in fridge for up to 3 months. Can be used in adding to iced lemon tea, iced milk tea and coffee; also mix in cocktails and served with soya milk jelly etc.

Method:

1. A ratio of 1 part sugar to 1 part water. eg: 200g sugar + 200ml water.
2. Add sugar and water in a pan, Bring to the boil over medium high heat, then turn down to simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to simmer for further 5 minutes until the syrup thickens a little and is ready to serve.

做好的自製豆腐花，可以隨意配上糖漿或其他甜點同吃。我今次預備了芒果、椰奶粉圓和鹽味果仁粒。分開或全放在一起同吃，都是無比的軟滑好滋味。若冷藏一夜才吃，更是消暑有益的涼快甜品，鄭重為你推薦！

Homemade soya milk jelly can be served with just syrups. But I've prepared mango cubes, Tapioca pearls in sweetened coconut milk, and lightly salted chopped mixed nuts to serve with it this time; you can eat it with each item separately or put them all together, they will all be silky smooth and super scrumptious. If keep in the fridge overnight and serve the next day, it has got to be a fantastic choice as a nutritious cool summer pudding, I strongly recommend it!