Chinese Almond Tea

I love Chinese almond tea. Chinese almonds are commonly used as an ingredient in TCM. There are 2 types of Chinese almonds, South almonds aka sweet almonds and North almonds aka bitter almonds. South almonds  have a slightly sweet taste and can be eaten raw. It is used to make snacks, soup, cakes, cookies and dishes. It is believed to be good for the lungs, helps nourish the skin, and is good for coughs, colds and asthma

North almonds is also good for coughs, colds and asthma, and can also help with constipation, phlegm and perhaps even cancer. However, it contains small amounts of amygdalin which can be toxic when taken in large quantities. North almonds must be cooked to remove this toxin. North and south almonds are often mixed for cooking, and a ratio of 1:4 (bitter:sweet) is recommended to avoid toxicity from the bitter almonds.

Chinese almond creme or tea sold commercially are not only pricey, they also tend to be too sweet. I've tried doing this is a regular blender before I owned a thermomix, however, I wasn't able to blend the almonds finely enough, so it required a fair bit of sieving and extra work to transfer to another pot for cooking.

I was delighted to see the recipe for "Chinese Almond Creme" in the Taste of Asia cookbook and since I had the ingredients on hand, I decided to try it out. The result was great, and it only took 15 minutes! The thermomix can blend the almonds fine enough that I don't need to sieve the mixture. Also, since I can blend and cook in the thermomix, much less effort is needed to make this. The resulting product is more like a tea (liquid) rather than a creme. We consumed it as a drink, but if you prefer to eat it as a dessert, you may want to add more rice to get a thicker mxture.

Chinese Almond Tea

adapted from A Taste of Asia Thermomix Cookbook

 

INGREDIENTS

100g Chinese almonds (sweet)
1 tbsp Chinese almonds (bitter) (Mine are premixed, so I just used 100g of my mix)
10g white rice (original recipe states 20g, just adjust the amount for the desired thickness. Can also use other types of rice)
1l water
1 small lump of rock sugar (optional)
Splash of milk (optional)

METHOD

1. Place almonds and rice in the TM bowl. Mill on speed 10 for 10s. Scrape down bowl and repeat one more time.
2. Add water and cook for 15mins at 100°C on speed 4.
3. Add milk and sugar if using then mix for 30s on speed 9. (increase speed gradually and cover measuring cup with a cloth to prevent splashing)
4. Serve hot or cold.