Double-Skin Milk Pudding: A Classic Cantonese Dessert
I lived in Guangdong Province for eight years, and during that time I was deeply influenced by Cantonese culture and food.
Double-skin milk pudding is one of the most classic Cantonese desserts, and it’s now popular throughout China.
I first tried it in Guangzhou in 2013. It was just after the Spring Festival, and I traveled there alone, staying at a youth hostel. At the hostel, I met another girl who was studying dentistry. She came from Northeast China. Since we were both medical students, we immediately connected and found that we had a lot in common.
We stayed in touch over the years, even as we each went through our own journeys in life. In August 2024, when I left China, my first stop was Singapore, where she had settled with her family. She offered me a room to stay and showed me around the National University of Singapore, where she is currently pursuing her PhD. One night, we stayed up late talking—just like we did a decade ago.
Ok, back to 2013. One morning in Guangzhou, I asked the front desk where I could find a traditional Cantonese breakfast. They recommended a small breakfast shop nearby. Mobile maps didn’t work very well at that time, so it took me a while to find it.
Since it was right after the Spring Festival, there weren’t many people. I ordered a bowl of double-skin milk pudding along with a few other items. I still remember that the pudding was served very hot—hot enough to burn my tongue.
From that moment on, I learned that double-skin milk pudding isn’t only served cold. In Cantonese dessert shops, it’s often served warm—not hot, but gently warm. This is quite different from many other places in China, where it’s usually served cold.
Cantonese cuisine places great emphasis on wellness, and people there rarely consume cold foods. That philosophy is reflected even in a simple dessert like double-skin milk pudding.
Ok, let’s learn how to make it!
What we need is whole milk, three eggs, and sugar. If you’re on a diet, you can use a zero-calorie sweetener instead.
First, heat 300 ml of whole milk until it just comes to a boil. Then pour it into a bowl and place the bowl in a cool spot. Let it sit undisturbed until a thin milk skin forms on the surface.
In this batch, the milk skin wasn’t very perfect, but that’s totally fine—let’s keep going.😂
Next, separate the eggs—we only need the egg whites. Add sugar to the egg whites and mix gently.
Now comes the key step. Carefully pour the cooled milk into a new bowl, but do not break the milk skin.
To do this, gently poke a small hole in the milk skin and slowly pour out about six-sevenths of the milk, leaving roughly one-seventh of the milk in the original bowl. This helps keep the milk skin floating intact.
Then, Mix the six-sevenths portion of milk with the egg whites and sugar until well combined.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve several times to remove bubbles and ensure a smooth texture.
Then pour the milk–egg white mixture back into the original bowl, allowing the milk skin to rise back to the surface.
Cover the original bowl with plastic wrap. Place it in a pot and steam it over water.
Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and continue steaming for about 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the pudding sit in the pot for another 5 minutes before removing it.
You can clearly see that the milk has set
Then, let the bowl cool down. I placed mine in the garage, where the temperature was around 30°C.
When it’s cooled to the temperature you prefer, you can enjoy it.
You can also add honey, osmanthus syrup, or anything else you like. 😋
You may be wondering what to do with the three egg yolks. Don’t worry—I’ll share a recipe for them next time.😉
