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Chicken breast is the thickener, pounded to threads so fine they cannot be seen or tasted.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

to finish

Method

  1. CHICKEN BREAST IS THE THICKENER, POUNDED TO THREADS SO FINE THEY CANNOT BE SEEN OR TASTED. That is the whole oddity of the dish and the whole technique. A poached breast is pulled apart along the grain, then pounded and teased until it has become a fluff of individual fibres -- closer to raw cotton than to meat. Worked into the pudding, those fibres give a texture that is impossible otherwise: it does not wobble like a set custard and it does not slice like a starch pudding; it stretches and pulls when a spoon is drawn out of it. The finished thing tastes only of milk, sugar and cinnamon, and most people eating it do not know there is meat in it at all.
  2. THE FIBRES MUST BE SEPARATED COMPLETELY, AND THAT TAKES TWENTY MINUTES. Pulled into threads with the fingers, then pounded in a mortar or between the fingertips, rinsed in cold water, squeezed, and pulled again. Any fibre thick enough to see will be a visible string in the finished pudding and will taste of chicken. This is the step that cannot be hurried and there is no machine for it -- a food processor chops the fibres short instead of separating them lengthways, which destroys the stretch they are there for.
  3. THE BREAST IS POACHED IN WATER, NOT IN THE MILK, AND THE WATER IS THROWN AWAY. Twenty minutes in plain simmering water. Poached in the milk it would give the milk a savoury chicken flavour that cannot be got out again. It is then rinsed thoroughly under cold water as it is pulled, which washes away the last of the savour.
  4. THE PULLED FIBRES ARE BEATEN INTO A LITTLE OF THE HOT PUDDING FIRST. A ladleful, worked hard with the fibres until they are dispersed and coated, then that paste stirred back in. Tipped straight into the pan they clump into a knot that no amount of stirring will open.
  5. IT IS BEATEN HARD AS IT THICKENS AND KEPT ON THE HEAT AFTERWARDS. Ten minutes of brisk beating once the starches have gelled. This is what develops the stretch -- it behaves slightly like working a dough. Gently stirred, the pudding sets as a plain milk pudding and the chicken is wasted effort.
  6. IT IS SPREAD AND CHILLED SIX HOURS, THEN CUT INTO SQUARES WITH CINNAMON. Poured into a tray to about three centimetres and left overnight if possible. Cut, each square should hold its edges and pull slightly as it is lifted.
  7. The chicken breast poached in plain simmering water 20 MINUTES. The water THROWN AWAY.
  8. Pulled apart along the grain while warm, then POUNDED, rinsed under cold water, squeezed and pulled again for 20 MINUTES, until it is a fluff of SEPARATE FIBRES.
  9. The rice flour and cornflour whisked smooth with 300 ml of the cold milk.
  10. The remaining milk and sugar brought to a simmer.
  11. The starch mixture whisked in and cooked, stirring, 8 MINUTES until thick and glossy.
  12. A LADLEFUL of the hot pudding worked HARD into the chicken fibres until they are dispersed, then stirred back into the pan.
  13. The mastic, if used, whisked in.
  14. BEATEN HARD over a low heat 10 MINUTES, until it visibly stretches when the spoon is lifted.
  15. Poured into a tray to about 3 cm and levelled.
  16. Chilled at least 6 HOURS.
  17. TESTED: a spoon drawn out should pull a thread, and no chicken fibre should be visible or tasteable. Stringiness you can see means the fibres were not separated far enough.
  18. Cut into squares and dusted heavily with cinnamon.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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