Beijing yogurt is a dairy product formed by the acidity produced by Rhizopus from fermented rice wine.

In fact, it is not much different than what our common cheese: it is the product of protein solidification in milk, cheese relies on probiotics and rennet to coagulate milk.

What is the difference between Beijing yogurt and common cheese?

Although it is called Beijing yogurt(In Chinese, we call it Nai Lao, it may be similar to the cheese in English.), this traditional Chinese food is completely different from the cheese we know.

Generally speaking, the cheese is extracted from milk, and the protein and fat content are high.

Beijing yogurt is made by using fermented rice wine to solidify the milk.

Beijing yogurt is sweet and slightly scented with aromas of milk. It is a bit like a pudding or a milky custard. It is suitable as a small snack to reward yourself or commonly had as a dessert after the Lantern Festival.

Ingredients:

• 1) 110g of Milk
• 2) 110g of cream
• 3) 80g of fermented rice wine
• 4) preserved Osmanthus

How to make drinkable yogurt(Chinese yogurt drink):

First we will explain how to get the fermented rice wine (which you can find here)

Step1: In a pot, put in some fermented rice wine. Pour through a strainer, and then press the rice with a spoon to get the rest of the liquid from it. I use fermented rice wine I made myself.

Step2: Mix the milk and cream, then add the wine and mix well, and divide into small bowls.

There are two ways to make Beijing yogurt at this point:

1: Steamer version

Step 1: The small bowl is covered with tin foil. Put into the steamer before heating it, then turn it on. Steam for 12-15 minutes, turn off the heat.

Step 2: After steaming, turn off the heat and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Take out and finally spoon on the preserved Osmanthus.

2: Room Temperature Fermentation

Step 1: The small bowl is covered with tin foil and allowed to stand at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

Step 2: When the cheese is solidified, it can be eaten with the preserved Osmanthus.

Tips

1. I use the fermented rice wine I made myself. If I use the commercial wine, I try to choose the freshest I can find, so the taste will be just as good.

2. Filter out the remaining wine slag. Don’t throw it away. Add a little salt to turn it into a good marinade. It is great for marinading fish and meat.

3. The traditional method is to heat the milk first, in order to avoid the yogurt turning too thin; and in this recipe, I added cream, which can make the taste more rich and smooth.

4. When you steam, make sure you add the containers of the pre-fermented yogurt into the steamer before warming up the water. This is very important.

5. The taste of the steamer version and the normal temperature fermentation version is a bit different. You can try it out to see which flavor is preferable to you.

6. In addition to sugar osmanthus, you can also put honey or jam on the yogurt, because the wine itself has a certain sweet taste, so even if nothing is added, it is still delicious.

7. After the yogurt solidifies, there will usually be a little water. This is a normal phenomenon of protein coagulation. Don’t worry, it’s just like the yogurt you buy at the grocery store that has a bit of liquid on top when you open the container.