Sữa chua - easy creamy Vietnamese yogurt recipe, without yogurt maker
The avid reader of gracefulinsights.space knows that I love to travel. My last trip took me to Vietnam where I treated myself to a delicious breakfast at Yen Hoi An. I enjoyed their signature coconut coffe and yogurt with fresh fruit and granola. The creamy yogurt had the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. Continuing my trip through Vietnam, I resided at Whale Island Resort, where they served their homemade yogurt in little jars every morning. This yogurt tasted as delicious as the one I had at Yen Hoi An!
A quick research showed that the Vietnamese create this wonderful yogurt with only three or four ingredients - and without a yogurt maker! The so called Sữa chua is famous for its creamy texture, its sweetness and its slight tartness. I found many different recipes. Every Vietnamese family seems to have their own Sữa chua recipe. Besides sweet condensed milk and yogurt, Sữa chua is made with either milk, water or a mix of milk and water - or even with cream.
Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I tried different versions of the yogurt. All of them were so easy to make and the yogurt tasted heavenly, no matter if I used water, milk, water and milk mixed or cream. The more milk, the creamier the yogurt. With cream the yogurt gets extra creamy, more like a dessert.
And here is how you make Vietnamese yogurt:
Serve Sữa chua with fresh mango and mixed nuts..
With water or water and milk mixed
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (397 g)
1 can of boiling hot water
1 ½ can of lukewarm water or lukewarm whole milk
1 jar of natural yogurt (100 to 180 g), lukewarm
Put the sweetened condensed milk in a jug. Use the empty can of the condensed milk to measure the water. Mix the condensed milk with one can of boiling hot water. Careful! The can gets really hot. Use oven mitts. Whisk the condensed milk and the hot water well. Add now 1 ½ cans of lukewarm water or milk and one jar of natural yogurt. Mix everything well. In case of foam, remove it with a spoon. Fill the liquid into clean (sterilized) yogurt jars and screw the cover on well. Ferment the yogurt as described below for 6 to 8 hours and then cool for 2 hours in the fridge.
With milk or with milk and cream mixed
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (397 g)
1 can of whole milk
1 ½ can of whole milk and cream mixed (mixing ratio as you like)
1 cup of natural yogurt (100 to 180 g), lukewarm
When using only milk (and not water) put the condensed milk with one can of whole milk in a pan, mix well with a whisk and warm it gently to about 45° C (important: lukewarm, not boiling hot). Take the mix off the heat, add 1 ½ cans of whole milk (or cream and milk mixed to your liking) and the yogurt. Use a small strainer or spoon to skim off all surface foam for a smoother finished texture. Pour the mixture into small glass jars and close the lid well. Ferment the yogurt as described below for 6 to 8 hours and then cool for 2 hours in the fridge.
Vietnamese yogurt is so easy to make, without a yogurt maker!
Fermenting the yogurt
Im Kühlschrank lässt sich der Joghurt bis zwei Wochen aufbewahren.
Ferment the mixture for 6 to 8 hours at around 40° C to 60° C. In case you own a yogurt maker, feel free to use it.
If you do not own a yogurt maker, just place the jars in a big pot. Fill the pot about 2/3 of the height of the jars with 40° C to 60° C warm water.
How to verify if the water is around 60° C? Very simple: 60° C hot water is a bit hotter than your average shower or simply hot tap water. Put a lid on the pan and wrap it in a thick towel. Once in a while I remove the towel and re-heat the water on the lowest setting of the stove for a few minutes. Another option is exchanging the cooled down water with fresh warm water every few hours. Just make sure to move the jars as little as possible in the process.
It is also possible to ferment the yogurt in the oven: Simply place the jars for 6 to 8 hours in the 40° C to 60° C warm oven.
After 6 to 8 hours the yogurt is dense and creamy. For the perfect taste and the right texture cool the yogurt in the fridge for about 2 hours.
That’s it! Now you can enjoy your homemade vietnamese yogurt either pure or with fruit or berries. You can keep the yogurt for about two weeks in the fridge.