Sweet Almond Cream (杏仁露)

Traditional Chinese desserts often come in liquid form.  In the ever so popular Phoenix Bakery (鳳城) in Southern California, dessert soups (甜湯) are a category of its own.  Here is our attempt to make a well-liked soupy dessert. Compared with the traditional method of: (1) making glutinous rice paste out of rice grains, and (2) adding the genuine almond taste from raw almonds, the method we use here is very simple (as derived from the making of Seaweed Almond Crisps previously), yet the results are authentic and delicious.

Ingredients

1. Glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)- 2/3 cup (see the green package on the right-hand side of the picture below for product package). Using regular Rice Flour (the left-hand-side package in the picture) works almost equally well (yielding slightly less-dense paste in Step 3 below).
   
2. Pure Almond Extract- 1/4 tsp.
3. Sugar, 1 Tbsp.

Method

1. Heat 1 cup of water in microwave for 45 seconds. Note- I use a 2-cup glass measuring cup, which is microwave safe and large enough for mixing water and glutinous rice flour.
2. Add 2/3 cup of glutinous rice flour (糯米粉) into the warm water, and stir (with a large spoon) till the rice flour is fully dissolved and there is no clump left in the mixture.  Add 1 Tbsp of sugar into the mixture, and stir.
3. Heat the mixture in the microwave again for another 45 seconds. By now, the rice flour mixture should have curdled into paste form. Stir (with a large spoon) till the paste is smooth and thick. If the mixture is too thick, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water gradually as you stir, to create heavy-cream-like texture, hence the name Almond Cream.
4. Add 1/4 tsp of pure almond extract into the paste. Stir and mix thoroughly.
5. Chill in the fridge and serve cold, or warm (by heating the serving size of ~3/4 cup in microwave for 15 seconds). Here is the outcome from our kitchen (using a 6-oz, i.e. 3/4 cup, glass custard cup).
   

Seaweed Almond Crisps (海苔杏仁酥/海苔薄燒)

This snack seems quite popular lately. Nowadays it's even available in some Costco stores in California.  Structurally we're making a sandwich here, by embedding almond slices and sesame seeds in between two seaweed sheets. We rely on glutinous rice flour paste to "glue" the dry and brittle seaweed sheets together. It's interesting to note that glutinous rice flour is easily dissolved in water, but the liquid mixture curdles below 212-degF, i.e., water's boiling point. As a result, temperature control is relatively important in making the "glue", in Step 1-3 below, a thing we learned in making Cantonese White Sugar Cake (白糖糕).

Ingredients

1. Seaweed  sheets (aka. Sushi Nori sheets)- 4 sheets (each ~7" x 8" in size, available from any Chinese or Japanese market, see picture to the right for product package).
2. Glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)- 1/3 cup (see the green package on the right-hand side of the picture below for product package)
3. Almond Slices- 2 oz (roast till lightly golden, on a frying pan on stove at medium heat, ~5 minutes, stir constantly). Note- 2 oz for a batch of two seaweed sandwiches.
4. Sesame Seeds- 1 oz (roast till lightly golden, separately, on a frying pan on stove at medium heat, ~5 minutes, stir constantly).  Note- 1 oz for a batch of two seaweed sandwiches.
5. Sugar- 1.5 tsp, Salt- 1/8 tsp (for making glutinous rice paste).

Method

1. Heat 1/2 cup of water in microwave for 20 seconds. Note- A 2-cup glass measuring cup in this step, because it is microwave safe and large enough for mixing water and glutinous rice flour.
2. Add 1/3 cup of glutinous rice flour (糯米粉) into the warm water, and stir (with a large spoon) till the rice flour is fully dissolved and there is no clump left in the mixture.  Add 1.5 tsp of sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt into the mixture, and stir.
3. Heat the mixture in the microwave again for another 20 seconds. By now, the rice flour mixture should have at least partially curdled into paste form (if the mixture is not thick enough, heat in microwave for another 20 seconds). Stir (with a large spoon) till the paste is smooth and thick (if the mixture is too thick, add up to 2 Tbsp of water gradually as you stir). Note- Now we have enough rice paste for 3 batches of 6 seaweed sandwiches. 
4. Brush the rice flour paste on the top half of a single seaweed sheet while pressing your fingers along the center line of the sheet. Then brush the rice flour paste on the other half of the sheet.
5. Place a single layer of roasted almond slices on the seaweed sheet (try not to overlay the almond slices!).
6. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and 1/2 tsp of sugar on top of the almond slices.
7. Repeat Step 4, by brushing rice flour paste on a fresh piece of seaweed sheet.  Flip the new sheet over and place it (with the rice-flour-paste-side facing down) on top of the sheet with almond slices and sesame seeds.  Now we have a sandwich of seaweed sheets, with almond slices and sesame seeds as the middle layer.
8. Repeat Step 4-7 to make another seaweed sandwich. Now we have a batch of 2 sandwiches.
9. Preheat oven to 250-degF.  Place the two seaweed sandwiches in a batch side by side, on a half-sheet baking pan, and place the reverse side of a cookie rack on top of both seaweed sandwiches (to press them down and to keep them flat).  Now, bake for ~35 minutes (till crispy).  Flip the two seaweed sandwiches at the halfway point, ~17 minutes.  Note- Add 5 more minutes, for two more sandwiches, i.e., ~40 minutes for four sandwiches, ~45 minutes for six.
10. Let the seaweed sandwiches cool for 2-3 minute, and cut into your preferred serving size, with a pair of scissors, or a sharp knife. Here is the outcome from our kitchen. Note- Taste the first seaweed piece to see if  it's crispy.  If not, bake for another 5 minutes (at 250-degF).