Toasted black sesame and thoroughly cooked soya beans make a fragrant grey-black drink with a pourable, milk-like texture. Use an ordinary blender after cooking and cooling the beans, then heat the blended milk again. Blending or adding hot water does not cook raw beans.
Times and yields are estimates. Allow for soaking, cooling and waits shown above, and check the state and doneness described in the method.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Pick over and rinse 60 g dried soya beans. Put in a covered container with 600 ml cold drinking water and refrigerate at 5°C or below for 8–12 hours, until swollen. Discard the soaking water and rinse; do not use it in the milk. Discard beans with an abnormal sour smell or sliminess.
Put beans in a deep pan with about 1.2 litres fresh water, well above the beans. Bring to a true rolling boil and maintain it for about 10 minutes. Reduce to a steady simmer for about 40–60 minutes or longer, skimming foam and adding hot water to keep them covered. Cool a bean briefly and check that it crushes easily with no raw, hard centre or raw-bean flavour. Continue cooking if necessary. Do not replace this step with low-temperature slow cooking, Keep Warm or a brief microwave heating.
Rinse the black sesame briefly in a fine sieve and drain thoroughly. Dry in a pan over a low heat, then toast for about 5–8 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Set aside to cool. Drain the cooked beans and discard their cooking water. Spread in a clean shallow container to cool promptly below your blender’s permitted temperature. This method uses cooled beans; never seal boiling beans or liquid in a blender. Do not leave them at room temperature for more than 2 hours while waiting; refrigerate promptly if not proceeding.
Put cooked beans, toasted sesame and 800 ml safe drinking water in a clean blender jug, staying below its liquid fill limit and working in batches if needed. Blend for about 1–2 minutes or until fine. For a smoother drink, strain through a clean fine sieve or food-grade cloth while the liquid is still cool; never squeeze hot milk by hand. Leave unstrained for more body. Rinse the jug with the remaining 200 ml water and add this to the blended milk in a clean deep saucepan.
Heat over a medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking and watching for foam rising. Foam alone does not mean the liquid has boiled. Once truly boiling, reduce to a gentle boil for about 5 minutes, stirring and watching continuously. This reheats milk made from cooked beans; it does not replace thoroughly cooking raw beans earlier. Add 0–15 g sugar and the optional small pinch of salt to taste. Let cool to a comfortable drinking temperature before serving.
Contains soya and sesame; check labels again if adding other drinks or sweeteners. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Best freshly made. Cool any remaining milk promptly in clean, shallow containers and refrigerate at 5°C or below within 2 hours of finishing. Aim to drink within 24 hours and never pour a partly drunk serving back. Reheat only once until hot throughout if serving warm, stirring to avoid hot spots. Discard milk with an abnormal sour smell or sliminess.
