I love ice cream. No, that’s a lie. I adore ice cream. And my husband is even crazier for the stuff. But
sometimes I crave a frozen dessert that is a little bit less sweet and a lot
more refreshing, and that’s when I long for ice milk.
For some strange reason, though, ice milk has fallen out of fashion.
Perhaps this is because ice cream is just so popular. Plus, ice milk sounds
like it would be the cheaper cousin of ice cream, some sort of lesser being hiding in
the back of a discount frozen food aisle. And yet, because there are so few
fats and often much less sugar in ice milk, its flavors explode easily on the
tongue. No barriers stand in the way between you and utter delight.
And that’s why I came up with this recipe. And just for the record, no
milk is involved. This is vegan heaven, for peanuts and Chinese red dates are the main ingredients, along with a sprinkle of rice
to smooth out the texture and a touch of sugar or sugar substitute, if you
really want to make this totally guilt free.
This is pretty much the same recipe as the one for peanut milk in All Under Heaven, but I upped the amount
of red dates to give it more of a natural sweetness. You don't really taste the dates except as a sort of suggestion floating around the back of your mind, telling you that a bit of magic is at work here. This combination ends up being subtle and delicious.
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| Two simple ingredients |
Peanut milk is one of those Chinese ideas that really should be adopted
with glee all over the world. It’s just that delicious and just that much of a no-brainer.
Instead
of the vibrant nutty flavor of toasted peanuts, though, what you end up with is
something smooth and delicately flavored. This is comfort food of the first
order. When I lived in Taiwan, people almost invariably drank this in winter as
a hot pick-me-up or a nourishing breakfast. But I could see other possibilities on the horizon as it gradually turned into a cool summer refresher, and that's when I came up with the idea of turning this into ice milk.
In the interest of full disclosure, one bit of work required here, and
that has to do with the straining. It honestly is just a tiny pain in the butt to strain
the liquid out of the ground peanuts. To combat this, I use two conical sieves:
one with holes on the inside to trap the larger particles and one with a fine
screen on the outside to ensure that the milk is as smooth as satin; two regular sieves would also work as well, as long as you have a fine-meshed one on the outside.
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| In the blender |
You might
think that it would be just fine to dump everything into the saucepan and do
away with the straining, but be assured that this extra step is totally worth
it because the texture becomes absolutely remarkable. A high-speed blender helps
things immeasurably, too, for it pulverizes the peanuts like nothing else and
so allows you to extract every last mote of flavor.
The key to success here is to simmer the milk for a few minutes, as this
not only cooks the nut and date milk, but also thickens it and gives it a
custardy texture that translates well into a tongue-cosseting ice milk.
I like to make the peanut mixture a day or two ahead of when I plan to serve it so
that that little bit of hard work is behind me and the milk gets to chill
thoroughly, which speeds up the freezing process. Then, a couple of hours
before serving time, I freeze the milk in two batches in my ice cream maker
before popping the results in the freezer. My guests are always happy with this
surprisingly delicious end to the meal.
Peanut and red date ice milk chez Huang
Huángjiā huāshēngnái hóngzăo bīngshā 黃家花生奶紅棗冰沙
Makes about 6 cups | 1.5 liters
12 ounces | 340 g raw peanuts, preferably skinned and definitely very fresh
1 cup | 100 g pitted Chinese red dates of any size
Water and boiling water, as needed
2 tablespoons raw rice of any kind
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| The peanut & date solids |
6 cups | 1.5 l boiling water
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup sweetener (sugar, sugar substitute, agave, whatever you like), or
to taste
1. The night before you plan to make this, place the peanuts in a medium
work bowl and cover them by at least 1 inch | 2 cm of cool tap water. Place
the pitted dates in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water by at least 2
inches | 4 cm, as these will absorb much more of the water. The next morning, drain
and rinse the peanuts, but do not drain the dates, as that soaking water will
taste fantastic.
2. Set a coarse sieve or colander chinois inside a similarly shaped
sieve (see headnotes), and place this over a heavy 2 quart | 2 liter saucepan. Add
the nuts, the dates, date water, and rice to your blender. Add 4 cups | 1 liter
of boiling water to the blender, cover the blender, and gradually increase the
speed to high. Pulverize the peanuts for at least a couple of minutes to
extract as much flavor as possible. Scrape the solids and milk into your
prepared sieves. Use a large silicone spatula to squeeze as much of the liquid
out as possible, and then return the solids to the blender. Add the rest of the
boiling water, whiz them together for a couple of minutes, and repeat the
straining step. Discard the solids.
3. Add the salt and sweetener to the liquid and set the pan over
medium-high heat. Stir the milk and scrape the bottom often to keep it from
burning. As soon as it comes to a full boil, reduce the heat and continue to
cook and stir the milk for a few minutes until it has thickened. Taste the milk
to ensure that there is no raw peanut flavor, and add more sweetener if you
think it needs it. Remove the pan from the heat, allow it to come to room
temperature, and chill in a closed container or jar.
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| Simmer until thickened & creamy |
4. A few hours before serving, pour half of the milk into your ice cream
maker. (I’m assuming it holds around 1 quart | 1 liter; if not, adjust the
amount as needed.) You don’t want to overfill the ice cream maker because the
liquid will expand considerably as it freezes. Freeze the peanut milk, scrape
out the ice milk into a resealable container, cover, and store in the freezer.
Repeat with the second half of the milk. (Most ice cream makers require a rest
period between sessions, so check your manual.)
5. Remove the ice milk from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving
if it is freshly made. If the ice milk has frozen solid, it will take longer to
soften, so adjust your time accordingly. Serve with black sesame candy wafers
or cookies, or scoop it into cones, or make it into as great ice milk soda. This
is an incredibly satisfying dessert, especially after a heavy or spicy meal.
