Savoury Chinese Doujiang

📝 Ingredients

• 800 ml plain unsweetened soya drink
• 120 g country bread (3 slices of about 40 g each)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 1 nori sheet
• White pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Non-stick frying pan
• 2 large bowls (500 ml minimum)
• Spatula
• Kitchen scissors

📖 Steps

1. Cut the bread into 1.5 cm cubes. Toast them in the dry frying pan over medium heat for 5 to 6 min, stirring often, until golden and really crispy on all sides. Set aside on a plate.
2. In the same pan, toast the sesame seeds for 1 to 2 min over medium heat, shaking the pan, until they turn golden and smell nutty; remove them immediately, as they burn quickly. Thinly slice the spring onions, keeping the white and green parts separate.
3. Cut the nori sheet into thin 3 to 4 cm strips with scissors. In each bowl, put 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, half the white of the spring onions and a pinch of white pepper.
4. Pour the soya drink into the saucepan and heat over medium heat for 5 to 7 min, often scraping the bottom with the spatula, until very hot and simmering: small bubbles at the edges, but not boiling hard. Keep an eye on it, as it can boil over all of a sudden.
5. Pour 400 ml of the piping-hot soya drink into each bowl in one go, from a height of about 10 cm, without stirring. The acidity makes it curdle in 1 to 2 min into soft flakes, like silken tofu. If nothing forms, the soya drink wasn't hot enough: stir just once, gently.
6. Leave to rest for 1 min, then sprinkle with the green of the spring onions, the nori, sesame and croutons at the very last moment so they stay crunchy. Eat straight away with a spoon, getting flakes, broth and croutons in every mouthful.