Dairy: Ginger Milk Curd

While researching gel formation in foods where no "external" hydrocolloid or gelling agent is added (Lersch, 2014), I came across ginger milk curd (in Chinese: 薑汁撞奶). With only three ingredients – milk, ginger and sugar – it immediately caught my attention. I found a recipe and my first attempt was successful. I was amazed! With three seemingly simple ingredients, I was able to form a tender, fragile gel within minutes. I loved the strong ginger taste with a touch of sweetness. After my first success, I had several failed attempts, so I looked up some more recipes on the internet. What puzzled me was that, as I dug up more recipes, the different instructions were specific, but also contradictive. I couldn't let go at this point, so I continued reading – also scientific papers (Mazorra-Manzano 2013 and Su 2009). Now that I have a fairly good understanding of the science behind ginger milk curd, it is clear that the many recipes I had found were full of kitchen myths.