Annin Tofu is the most beloved Chinese dessert in Japan. So, I was surprised after I moved to the U.S, that most of Chinese restaurants here don’t have almond tofu on their menu. In Japan, however, pretty much every restaurant that serves Chinese food serves almond tofu. Besides, you can find the annin tofu in convenience stores or regular grocery stores in Japan. The funny thing is, some Chinese restaurants which are popular for the Japanese in Manhattan, serves annin tofu. That being said, as a Japanese person, I cannot live without almond tofu especially after I have had rich Chinese food.
What’s Annin Tofu?
Annin tofu (杏仁豆腐) is a soft jelly-like dessert made of apricot kernel milk, agar, and sugar. Although the ingredient is not like tofu (does not contain soy milk), the name “tofu” comes from the visual; It’s white and solid like tofu. It is normally served in syrup with fruits, and there are many different versions of the recipe. In the traditional recipe, apricot kernel seeds are soaked in water and grounded, and strained. However, it is not easy to get kernel seeds if you do not live in China. Almond powder or almond extract is used as a substitute. Agar is the traditional ingredient to settle the jelly, but gelatin is used for some recipes in order to achieve the different textures of jelly, which I used in this recipe.
Health Benefit of Annin
This dish was originally created for cough medicine, asthma and constipation in Chinese medicine. However, the apricot kennel is too bitter, so that they mix with sugar and add milk to make it easy to consume. There are two different apricot kernels; bitter and sweet varieties, and the sweet one is more used for annin tofu.
Ingredients Recommendation
The traditional almond powder has a sweet, elegant flower-like aroma, so I highly recommend using it if you can. However, you can also use almond extract. I avoid using almond flour because it doesn’t dissolve in the milk and doesn’t have same aroma. The best place to find almond powder is in Chinese food store.
How to Serve Annin Tofu
Annin tofu is usually served with sweet syrup. Most of the recipes use fruits cocktails and syrup for almond tofu. You can serve it any of your favorite fruits you like. Today, I garnished with white peach because I had some beautiful fresh peaches. Also, use the skin for the syrup to infuse the aroma of peach and a pretty pink color.
Ingredients
[Almond Tofu]
- 1 packet (7g) of gelatin powder (with 1 tablespoon water)
- 2 ⅓ cups (532 ml) of whole milk
- ⅓ cups (70g) of sugar
- 5 tablespoons of Chinese almond powder(杏仁霜or杏仁粉)
- ⅔ cups (144)ml of heavy cream
[Peach Syrup]
- ⅔ cups of ( 158 ml) of water
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- Peach peel
[Garnishes]
- Peach
- Goji berry
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix gelatine and 1 tablespoon of water. Mix well, and let it bloom for 3 to 5 minutes.
- In a medium pot, combine the milk, sugar, and almond powder. Put it on medium heat and stir to dissolve sugar and almond powder completely.
- Before it starts simmering, turn the heat off, add gelatin and stir it.
- Add heavy cream into the milk mixture and mix well with a whisk. Strain the mixture through a strainer.
- Pour the mixture into a container and put them into the refrigerator until the mixture settles. At least three hours.
- Cut the peach for garnish. (leave the skin for syrup.)
- In a small pan, add water, peach peel, and sugar. Heat them up in medium heat, stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar. When it starts simmering, remove it from the heat. Let them cool down, then transfer them to the refrigerator. Strain the peach peels before use.
- Scoop the annin tofu into a cup, add peach and pour over the syrup. Garnish with goji berry.
