Almond Tea

Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons blanched apricot kernels
or blanched almonds
500 ml/1 pint/2 cups water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fine ground rice

Directions

Grind apricot kernels and water together at high speed in an electric blender until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve or square of muslin. Put into a saucepan with the sugar and bring to the boil. Mix ground rice smoothly with 3 tablespoons cold water and stir into the simmering liquid until it boils and thickens.

Pour into small Chinese bowls and serve hot, before a skin forms on the surface.

Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)