Chinese Almond Tea ~ 杏仁茶

As the name implies, I've used  Chinese almonds to make this Chinese Almond Tea.  Chinese almonds are divided into two types, one is sweet  South almonds  (南杏)  and the other is bitter North (北杏) almonds.  The bitter almonds have a very distinctive scent which may be sweet smelling to some but ill-scented to others.  These almonds are not the same  kind of almonds that we use for baking, cooking and snacking.  They are in fact 'Apricot kernels' and are only available at the Chinese medicinal stores.  The bitter almonds  have a mild toxicity and cannot be eaten raw, only upon cooking or roasting can they be consumed.  These almonds help to relieve heatiness and soothes coughs.  The ratio to this recipe is 4 sweet almonds to 1 bitter almond.  Rice or glutinous rice was added to the recipe and I was thrilled to be rewarded with a silky smooth, sweet smelling creamy tea  and most important is that all my family members relish the sweet scent of these almonds!

This tea is best paired with Chinese Churros aka 'You Tiao'. 

 I addd a wee pinch of salt into my bowl and it was absolutely Yum!

Recipe for Chinese Almond Tea  ~  杏仁茶       (adapted from  'here' )   Yield : 4 to 5 servings                                   

Ingredients

• 80 gm sweet almonds
• 20 gm bitter almonds
• 40 gm rice or glutinous rice
• 40 gm rock sugar 
• 1200 ml water  
• pinch of salt  (optional)

Method

1. Wash the sweet and bitter almonds, rice thoroughly and place in a container.  Soak with 600 ml water.  Cover and keep in the fridge, overnight.
2. Pour out the above into a liquidiser together with the water and blend till fine.  Place a muslin or a very fine cloth over a sieve and place this over a pot to catch the juice.   Strain the juice from the pulp as much as possible.  
3. Put the pulp back into the liquidiser, add 150 ml of water, and blend.  Strain the juice from the pulp.  Scoop up the pulp, add another 150 ml of water and blend again.  Strain the juice from the pulp for the last time.   
4. Finally, squeeze out as much juice as you can from the pulp.  Discard the pulp.  
5. Pour the juice into a pot, add in the remaining 300 ml water, cook over medium heat, stirring continously to avoid a skin forming at the bottom.  Add in the rock sugar, simmer till dissolved.   Add in more water if a thinner consistency is preferred.  Fine tune to desired taste.  
6. Ladle onto serving bowls.   Serve hot or warm. You may opt to add in a tiny pinch of salt.

Note :  Once cooled, the tea will thicken and you can add water to dilute and reheat it.

I am submitting this to  Best Recipes For Everyone, April 2015, event theme 'Fun with Almond' organised by  Fion of XuanHom's Mom Kitchen Dairy and hosted by 

Doreen of  'My little favourite  DIY'