Description
In China, dairy products are not typically a part of the daily diet, though they are widely available and very popular more and more these days. I would generally avoid them, for a number of reasons, sorry to those dairy lovers and vegetarians.
Many mainstream supermarkets offer various choices in good quality non-dairy-milks, including hazelnut, almond, oat, soya and rice milk, you can start testing to see which ones you like most. The supermarkets also offer alternatives, including sesame milk and soya milk, but unfortunately, I have yet to find one without added sugar and preservatives. Because in China many homes have them and because the price is the best I’ve seen (only 200-400 RMB), I recommend buying an electric non-dairy milk maker. You don’t need one however, a blender, or even just a saucepan and some muslin fabric will do. These homemade non-dairy milks last for up to a week if well refrigerated.
Please Note
Be aware though, when heating nuts like almonds, sesame and hazelnuts, it actually alters their natural properties the worst, so it’s probably better nutrition-wise to not use the electric non-dairy milk maker. It’s better with nuts to soak them in the water over night, and blend with the water for a few minutes until smooth and then strain, so no heat is applied in the process. For oats and soybeans, using the electric soya-milk maker is absolutely fine though.
Before you begin, please download and refer to my Soaking Times free resource.
