Black Sesame Soy Ice Cream

Taiwan is known for its innovative food and drinks—they invented bubble teas no less. The girls and I had a front row seat of the abundance and fascinating varieties of good eats during our recent visit. One particular item that CC#1 discovered was from a funny little mattress/ice cream shop in Daan District called “Sleepy Tofu Bar”, which specializes in white and black tofu soft-serve ice cream in cones. Lightly sweetened and smooth on the tongue with a pleasant crunch from popped rice sprinkles, these refreshing treats felt healthy enough to go back for seconds (CC#1).

Upon returning home, I proceeded to replicate my own version, which turned out to be über healthy because I didn’t strain the whole soybean slurry, therefore retaining all the fiber. On the fat and sweet side, I added 2-3 tablespoons of coconut cream from the pure coconut milk cream top, and black sesame paste which made the texture extra creamy. I also made a plain version without the sesame paste and I definitely preferred black sesame. I fired off Ninja’s Creami ice cream machine (this recipe is particularly well-suited) and mixed twice until I got the appropriately smooth texture. Single mix in sorbet mode produced a powdery texture. I also added more maple syrup than I normally prefer. According to CC#1, when the liquid is frozen, the sweetness is cut down by quite a bit. Of course, hubby poured more maple syrup on top which he claimed made even cardboard taste good. Alas to the lack of discerning taste!

Ingredients:

• 140g dry organic soybeans, cleaned and soaked in 1,400g of water, overnight

• 2-3 tbsp cream top from organic canned coconut milk (no additives, no gum)

• 4 tbsp smooth black sesame paste

• 4 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions:

• Boil soaked soybeans in pot over medium heat for 30 minutes

• In Vitamix blender, blend cooked soybeans with sufficient liquid on high speed for about 2-3 minutes until the soy milk takes on a thick and rich consistency (I had a lot of cooking water left). At this point, CC#1 would strain the soy milk for the consistency of regular milk but I like drinking it straight with little to no sugar added, or blend in brown rice for a very filling drink.

• You will have quite a bit of thick soy milk, from which I took out about 72 ounces for making three 24-ounce tubs of soy milk ice cream using the Creami jars

• Add the coconut cream (optional), black sesame paste, and maple syrup, and blend together with the soy milk

• Fill mixture into three Creami jars and freeze for about a day

• Use Creami machine on “Sorbet” mode and grind one jar of the frozen soy milk at least twice. Check for consistency after each grind.

• Served plain, or drizzle with more maple syrup or other favorite toppings if you like. Also tastes great in a cone.