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Ginkgo Barley (Fu Chok) 白果薏米
Ginkgo Barley with Dried Beancurd Skin Dessert 白果薏米腐竹糖水
This is one of my favourite Chinese desserts of all time. Also known as fu chok (foo chuk), this dessert tastes light, refreshing and nourishing. It is also really easy to make. Be sure to buy the soft type of bean curd skin sheets to make this dessert. The other type, which looks alike but is harder and oilier, is more suitable for making Chinese style meat stews (I found out the hard way because I use the wrong type on my first attempt of making the dessert). I cheat by using canned ginkgo nuts (where the nuts are already shelled and boiled), so the steps and cooking time for this recipe are greatly simplified.
Ingredients
(Serves 6 to 8)
- 50g holland barley (洋薏米), rinsed a few times
- 1800ml water
- 5 pandan leaves, tied to a knot
- 20 pitted red dates
- 100g soft beancurd skin sheets (三边腐竹)
- 100g canned (boiled and shelled) ginkgo nuts (白果) (I used half can)
- 130g rock sugar (冰糖) (adjust to taste)Directions
1. Soak bean curd sheets in a large bowl of water till soft, around 5 minutes.
2. In a pot, add water, barley, pandan leaves and red dates. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes till barley is soft.
3. Add gingko nuts and soaked softened beancurd sheets (do not add the water used to soak the beancurd sheets), and continue simmering for another 10 minutes, or until the beancurd skin reached the consistency you like (big pieces or congee-like fine consistency; I like somewhere in between).
4. Add rock sugar to taste, turn off the flame when the sugar is fully dissolved. Discard pandan leaves. Serve warm or chilled.
Behind the Scenes Photos
Ingredients – holland barley, rock sugar, red dates and pandan leaves
Ingredient – bean curd sheet. It even shows the photo of the ginkgo barley dessert!
Soaking the bean curd sheets to soften them before using
Canned Ginkgo Nuts
Cooking Tips
1. Make sure you buy the soft type of beancurd skin to make this dessert. The other type, which is harder and oilier, is more suitable for making Chinese style meat stews (lor bah).
2. Get the finer type of barley, usually labelled as holland barley (洋薏米). They are easier to cook and softer to eat.
3. If you are using raw ginkgo nuts, you will need to increase the simmering time in step 2 (around 1 hour) till the nuts are soft. Add a bit more water too. Before using, gently crack open the shells with a mortar and pestle, insert a toothpick to flick out the dirt in the center of the nut which is bitter tasting.
4. Instead of canned ginkgo nuts, you can use those which are vacuum packed as well. Because of the way the nuts are compressed by the vacuum packaging which distorts their shape, I personally prefer the canned type.
5. You can substitute gingko nuts with lotus nuts, or use a combination of both.
Fancy more Chinese desserts recipes?
Who’s also making it
- Christine’s Recipes (her version comes with soft-boiled eggs)
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
One of my favourite desserts. Wish I’m right next door to you. I could do with a bowl. ;P
Will this dessert give a cooling effect? Never make any dessert with bean curd sheets, usually just use it for cooking. I might try this soon :)
I think this is quite neutral, not too cooling if I am wrong :)
I love this. Have not eaten for a long time. Have to go and get the ingredients to cook soon.
i love this dessert.. My daddy use to cook it=)
I love this but I tend not to eat the fuchok, it has this weird taste to me.
Making this dessert with pandan leaves sounds interesting. Here, it is more popular to add eggs into this sweet soup.
Hope to have a chance to try the egg version one day. The ones in Singapore are mostly without egg.
I love this too. My grandma used to cook this very often when I was a little girl.
I don’t like this as a child, so haven’t eaten it in ages. I think I prefer this savory instead of sweet. My mom loved this though.
This looks like a comforting dessert. I’d love to try working with bean curd skin sheets too.
Oh! I never had this with the dry tofu…only with the curd one…it sure looks something that I’d love to try :-)
I don’t like ginkgo, so my favorite type is with fuchuk, egg and rock sugar.
My friend just gave me a big packet of fresh ginko nuts today. I was just thinking what to do with it. Yea I should make this fuchuk pak kor :)
Ages since I had this. My mum used to make this when we were young. Unfortunately don’t have the chance now other than eating it outside (my other half doesn’t really like this). I take mine either hot or cold and they say that this is good for your complexion …
Mmm… I like yours, cos it has got lots of ginko nuts ^^
This dessert reminds me of 1 small “incident” with my mother-in-law. Let me try your recipe and share my story in my blog. ;)
look forward to your recipe and story :)
Nice. I think my Hubby-D will like this :)
I love this too- the best thing is that it tastes good whether hot or cold! Good tip about the beancurd sheets!! I will look out for it!
ohhh and i heard this is really really good for me and my trunk! (maybe minus the ginkgo nuts)…loveee
This does look very refreshing. My mom is always telling me these nuts are good for me, but her talks have never been as persuasive as this post.
I also heard that the nuts are good for brain power, though it doesn’t have much effect on me in that area :p
This is one of my favourite desserts. I remember my landlady, while living in KL, liked to cook this.. and I love it! :)
Gingko barley is my all-time favourite dessert.
mine too :)
wah one of my favourite chinese desserts. I need to have it chilled though haha. looks like a recipe i can handle. gonna make this when i’m free =]
if you can bake, this is nothing ;)
Eh, Wiffy! You made my fave tong sui here! I cook this pretty regularly! In fact, my whole family loves it. =)
Btw, forgot to tell you … I sometimes beat a little bit of egg into the soup … making 蛋花 … Try it, it’s actually nice. When I was blogging about this (http://dodol-mochi.blogspot.com/2009/12/jobs-tears-dried-beancurd-gingko-nut.html), I realized that what we refer to as è–ç±³, in English, it should be called Job’s Tears, not barley. “Barley” is a term commonly and mistakenly used in our region! No wonder my American dad couldn’t understand what I was trying to tell him … LOL!
oh I’ve always wondered what job’s tears are, now I know! US frequently have a different name for food (such as for yam/sweet potato/taro), I think in Asia, more people will know it as barley. I learnt something from you every time, thanks for sharing :D
Hi Hi
This is my all-time favourite in Singapore. I wish I have all the ingredients available right now. One question : Is holland barley really from holland? If it is, maybe I can get it easily here in Antwerp (Belgium) chinatown….
cheers
MissB
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