This past week I was miserably sick with the flu. Fortunately one of the first phrases I learned to say in Thai, besides "I'd like another glass of Thai iced tea please", was "I'm really sick... again!"
Whining in Thai always seems to elicit more sympathy from the boyfriend than whining in English and this time was no exception. I was treated to lots of ginger tea and even this new-to-me dessert, silken tofu with ginger syrup, which was a sweet way to get fluids and some protein into my fever-ravaged body...
Ever the food blogger, I very nicely asked the boyfriend if he might also take some photos and write down instructions while he made me dessert 🙂 And because he's such a nice guy, he graciously agreed! So, here we go:
You start with whole, fresh ginger. Cut off a 2-inch section and peel the skin with a vegetable peeler. Then cut the peeled ginger into bite-sized slices. Boil the ginger slices in 3-4 cups of water for about 30 minutes. You can boil it for longer if you want an even more pronounced ginger flavor, but this yields a pretty strong syrup. Once it's strong enough for you, add palm sugar to taste (I think he added ~2 teaspoons). Then fill a bowl with very thin spoon-fulls of warm silken tofu and pour the hot ginger syrup on top.
Serve to your sick, whiny girlfriend in hopes that she will get better soon and continue to cook more yummy Thai food for you! Disclaimer: In Thailand, this dish is generally eaten with fried dough (ปาท่องโก๋, pathongko). But that's a recipe for another time...
Rachel
Thanks, Cheryl! The tofu acts more as a counter-balance to the ginger syrup, which is pretty powerful on its own.
Cheryl
Just found your blog. This recipe looks delicious, even if you're not under the weather. Does the tofu soak up the flavor of the ginger syrup?