If you had given this dish to a younger me, I would not have appreciated how sweet it isn’t. I would have been a jerk. I would have been dramatic. And I would have been . . . wrong. Now, I love how refreshing and balanced this dish is.
Aside from all that, this is actually a VEGAN dessert (if you don’t serve it with evaporated milk), because we use agar-agar, a seaweed-based “gelatin.” Yay!
2–4 SERVINGS
1½ cups cold water
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup unsweetened soy milk*
1¼ teaspoons almond extract
1¼ teaspoons agar-agar
½ cup evaporated milk
Fresh strawberries, thinly sliced, for garnish
Fresh blueberries, for garnish
BALLS OUT
40–80 SERVINGS
3 quarts cold water
3 cups sugar
8 cups unsweetened soy milk *
10 teaspoons almond extract
10 teaspoons agar-agar
5 cups evaporated milk
1. Combine water, sugar, soy milk, and almond extract in a pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once sugar is dissolved and the liquid is warm to the touch, add agar-agar and whisk for 1 minute until it completely dissolves.
2. Pour liquid into a container deep enough for it to set. A rectangular pyrex glass cake pan usually works. Pop the liquid bubbles that will form at the top. Because agar-agar can be notoriously difficult to manage, is “cranky,” and won’t set correctly if disturbed, do not shake, bump, or move.
3. Let set for 10–15 minutes. Here’s the frustrating part: If it doesn’t set, you might have to start all over again with a new set of ingredients. (You can try reheating and stirring the mixture over medium-low heat just in case it didn’t dissolve correctly. Once it steams, remove from heat and pour back into your mold of choice. If it still doesn’t set, reheat and add a touch more agar-agar, and if that doesn’t work, sorry to say, you have to start over.)
4. After it sets, refrigerate.
When ready to serve, cut into cubes. Serve in a bowl with a generous amount of evaporated milk, strawberries, and blueberries and become One with your inner Chinese child through this classic dessert.
* If you accidentally get sweetened soy milk, just reduce the sugar to balance it out. As everyone and their mother says in Southern California, “No worries.”