Sweets and drinksSweet SoupsVietnamAbout 40 minutes, not counting the time to soak the soybeans
Tao pho is a silky, quivering pudding served with warm ginger syrup. It should hold together in one soft block. The difficulty is the soy milk, since milk that is too thick sets grainy rather than smooth.
The duong nho, the coagulant that sets the pudding, is mixed with cooled boiled water, never with warm water. Once the milk is poured into the bowl, the bowl is not moved again, because only a still bowl sets into a clean block. Any foam on the surface has to be skimmed off quickly.
This batch weighs about 3.4kg, at roughly 47 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak 300g of dried soybeans for 5 to 6 hours in cold water, or 3 to 4 hours in warm water.
Slip off the skins, rinse the beans and put them in a blender. For every 300g of beans use about 2.2 liters of water. Strain the blended milk through a thin cloth so no pulp is left.
Bring the soy liquid to a boil to cook it into milk, stirring constantly so it does not scorch on the bottom. Once it boils, keep cooking and stirring for another 5 to 7 minutes, then turn off the heat and lift off the skin that forms on top.
For every 1 liter of milk, measure out 3 to 5g of duong nho. With no fine scale, one level yogurt spoon is close enough.
Dissolve the duong nho in about 20ml of cooled boiled water. Never use warm water, which turns it bitter, and never mix it far in advance, which turns it sour. Use no utensil at all: swirl it by hand or tilt the bowl to coat it.
Pour the milk into the bowl holding the dissolved duong nho and do not move the bowl again, since that breaks the set. Skim the surface foam quickly, cover, and leave it until the milk sets into a soft, smooth pudding.
For the ginger syrup, cook 225g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend with 700ml of water and a few slices of ginger and bring it to a boil.
To serve, pour the ginger syrup over a bowl of tao pho, either warm or with ice.
Tips
Soy milk for tao pho should not be too thick, or the pudding sets grainy rather than smooth.
Skimming the foam thoroughly gives a much better looking bowl.
Tao pho keeps only 1 to 2 days, since it turns sour after that.
Duong nho is a setting agent and has nothing to do with the sweetener in the ginger syrup, so keep the two apart.
Bruise the ginger and drop it into the pot from the start, since a late addition leaves no time for the aroma to build.
Pour the soy milk into the bowl from a height in one steady go, because a slow pour leaves the pudding unset.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.