Double layer / skin milk 双皮奶 is an icon of Cantonese / Shunde cuisine. It is found mainly in Shunde 顺德 district of Foshan city, Guangzhou city, Macau, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.
Shunde is the best place for this ancient water buffalo milk dessert, hence it is on the bucket list of almost every foodie tourist visiting Shunde.
Well, as far as I know, you can't get water buffalo milk custard outside of the Pearl River Delta, not with this quality anyway. Water buffalo milk has at least double the fat of average farm cow, hence it has at least twice the flavour and fragrance.
𠮩𠹌私房菜 in Shunde
Our first dinner in Shunde was at 𠮩𠹌私房菜, and we asked for double skin milk for dessert 🤭 The 薑汁撞奶 Ginger milk custard variety was highly recommended, so we ordered that.
薑汁撞奶 is water buffalo milk poured into ginger juice, resulting in a very soft, creamy flowy custard with a slight ginger taste, dairy taste and sweetness (some sugar added).
As the night was still young after dinner, we went roaming around 金榜 Jinbang Lane in Shunde.
Yeah, this is the kind of touring I enjoy most - looking for hyperlocal food in the nooks or crannies of the city 🤭
金榜 Jinbang Lane used to serve the surrounding area with many buffalo herds. The buffalos are gone due to urban development but 金榜 still has many shops and kiosks serving water buffalo products like milk, double skin milk custard, ginger & milk custard, fried milk, etc.
A little sad that the shop 歡記, I am targeting had already closed for the day 🥺 歡記 reputedly serves the best double skin milk custard.
金榜安定里 in Shunde
No 歡記, so we opted for 金榜安定里 out of the five or six shops that were still open when we were there at around 10pm.
No regrets. The pudding was soft, almost fluffy, and rich with dairy flavour and sweetness. The skin though was just a thin film. Besides milk, and sugar, double skin milk custard has egg white.
After dessert supper, we swung over to the Pedestrian Mall at HuaGai Road 大良华盖路商业步行街 which was winding down for the day but still had some human traffic.
A few of the leading chains like 民信老铺 well known for their buffalo milk products were still full house at this time.
We fed our cameras but couldn't eat anymore tonight 😂 Chain shops offer many variations of double skin milk custard, such as with boiled red bean, mango cubes, etc.
More big buffalo milk chain brands.
银灯食府 Silver Lamp Restaurant in Guangzhou
Complimentary after dinner dessert at 银灯食府 in Guangzhou. Can't remember much of it except that it wasn't as smooth and fragrant as those we had from Shunde 🤭
山海咖啡 in Shawan
A random cafe latte because I needed a caffeine fix but I was blown away by how much better a shot of water buffalo milk can make a milk coffee. I chose a bitter Arabica and the creamy dairy sweet water buffalo milk complemented it well. It took away all the harsh edges and smoothened the whole experience of every sip. Wonderful. Coffee with water buffalo milk. Don't miss it, if you are a coffee lover!
山海咖啡 is in Shawan Ancient Town. We came here for the rooftop views but remember only the water buffalo cafe latte 🤭
沙灣奶牛皇后 in Shawan
We had finished our hearty lunch and had walked back to the car park when I realised that we haven't tried the famous 沙灣奶牛皇后.
I suggested with much enthusiasm to walk back to 沙灣奶牛皇后 for double skin milk custard. Thanks guys for indulging me 🙏
I am so glad that we did as this turned out to be the best double skin milk of this trip.
The skin was thick, texture was almost firm like tofu. The skin was taut and you can bounce a coin on it 🤫
Just like the greatest flavour in a duck, chicken or goose is in the skin, it is the same for double skin milk. To me, the essence of double skin milk custard is the skin at the top.
Breaking the skin lets off a dairy sweet fragrance. The creamy custard below was velvety smooth and had a relatively assertive dairy sweetness without being overwhelming.
Layered dairy sweet flavours from the skin and custard.
沙灣奶牛皇后 has the best water buffalo milk custard of this trip, so far (we still had 3 more days to go in Guangzhou).
They have various water buffalo milk products including cheese.
If you are visiting Shawan Ancient Town, don't leave without a stop at 沙灣奶牛皇后.
黄浦记 in Guangzhou
黄浦记 is a ubiquitous dessert chain store in Guangzhou.
Not much flavour or fragrance, if any in their double skin milk custard. The custard texture was relatively firm and almost chalky. The boiled red beans overwhelmed what little flavour or fragrance there were in the milk custard.
We also tried a couple of fried milk. Didn't come across any memorable one. The crisp skin absorbed a lot of grease which made it oil saturated when cool, overwhelming the delicate taste of milk.
It is worth the extra effort to get your water buffalo double skin milk custard fix in Jinbang, Shunde or Shawan.
Recipe
Water buffalo milk is steamed in a bowl and allowed to cool. A skin forms over the cooled cooked milk. A couple of slits are made in the skin at the edge of the milk and bowl. The milk is drained out through a slit to another bowl. The skin is left in the first bowl.
Next, make the buffalo milk custard with this cooled cooked milk by adding egg white and white sugar. This milk-egg white-sugar mixture is poured into the first bowl with the first skin still inside.
This bowl is then covered with plastic cling wrap and cooked by steaming. The first skin will float to the top. The cooked custard forms a second skin, giving the dessert a pile of two skins at the top, hence the moniker "double skin".
The skins have a different sweet flavour and texture from the custard, thus making an interesting sweet dessert of layered sweetness and varied soft textures, in a subtle way.
Written by Tony Boey on 2 Mar 2025
Pin Cheng Ji 品城記 channel has a review by food critic 大秋 of five well known double skin milk shops in Shunde, Guangdong province, China. The dish is made with water buffalo milk. Double layer / skin milk 双皮奶 is one of Shunde's must try food icons which I want to try for my own coming Shunde trip.
Let's see what 大秋 has got for us 🙏
The first two shops were at Shunde's Pedestrianised Street Mall at Huagai Road 华盖路步行街.
The first was Yen Soon's (Ren Xin 仁信老铺) basic double layer milk which was soft, creamy inside, very sweet and greasy. 大秋recommended eating the versions with toppings to moderate the sweetness. Ren Xin has many outlets including in Guangzhou city.
Restaurant name: Ren Xin Lao Pu 仁信老铺
Address: Huagai Road, Shunde District, Foshan, China, 528300
Tel: +86 757 2222 3311
Second shop Mun Soon (民信 Minxin) was also at the touristy Shunde Pedestrianised Street Mall at Huagai Road. Mun Soon's signature is double skin milk with coconut. Like Yen Soon earlier, the basic version at Mun Soon was also very sweet and doesn't have much milk taste. The coconut milk blended one had coconut flavour but was just as sweet as the basic one i.e. too sweet also. Minxin has many outlets.
Restaurant name: 民信老铺 Minxin Laopu
Address: China, Guangdong Province, Foshan, Shunde District, 大良华盖路商业步行街 邮政编码: 528300
Tel: +86 757 2222 2424
The third shop, Foon Kei 欢记牛乳牛奶 at Kampong 金榜 precinct was slightly away from the tourist belt. 大秋 liked this one as its smooth body had nice dairy milk sweet flavour and fragrance as well as was not overly sugary. It was smooth and creamy but not overly greasy.
大秋 also liked Foon Kei's bottled water buffalo milk as it had rich dairy milk flavour. The milk come from Foon Kei's own water buffalo herd.
Restaurant name: 金榜欢记牛乳牛奶
Address: China, Guangdong Province, Foshan, Shunde District, Jinbang Upper Street 金榜上街
The fourth shop also in the Kampong 金榜 Jinbang area was known as Lo Kai Fong 老街坊双皮奶. The custard skin here was relatively thick, dense and firm. The hot milk was made on order and served steamy hot.
Optional ginger was added, it was a blend of milky, sweet, with ginger heat.
Restaurant name: 老街坊双皮奶
Address: China, Guangdong Province, Foshan, Shunde District, Upper Jinbang Road 金榜上街
Zhou Daniang Niuru 周大娘牛乳(旧寨总店), the fifth and last in this double layer milk trail by 大秋. Zhou Daniang Niuru was popular with influencers. Zhou Daniang Niuru has many outlets.
The texture of their double layer milk was smooth and relatively thick and firm. It was sweet like those at the Shunde Pedestrianised Mall but did not completely mask the dairy sweet flavours. It had a good balance of sugary sweet and dairy sweet.
Restaurant name: 周大娘牛乳 (旧寨总店) Zhou Daniang Niuru
Address: 216 Jinlong Rd, 216, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, 528300
In his conclusion, 大秋 gave his verdict on his favourite out of the five double skin milk that he tasted. Top favourite was Foon Kei in Kampong 金榜欢记牛乳牛奶 for its balanced dairy milk and sweet flavours.
I like it that 大秋 does not shy away from giving his candid opinion on the food he tasted, so we have confidence in the quality of his recommendations.
Written by Tony Boey on 2 Feb 2025
🎗️Note: The purpose of this interpretation is to allow non Chinese audiences to access the content of the video, and also prepare for my own visit. When I visit these eateries myself, I will append my own personal experience here in this post.
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