This Cantonese fried milk dessert is crispy and crunchy on the outside while creamy and soft with a custard-like texture on the inside. There’s a reason why this Chinese fried milk dessert is popular at Chinese restaurants, and now you too can make it at home!

What Is Chinese Fried Milk?

Chinese deep-fried milk (炸鮮奶), also known as Cantonese fried milk or Hong Kong fried milk, is a popular Chinese dessert that you’ll often see being served at Chinese restaurants, especially during dim sum tea time.

The fried milk dessert originates from Guangdong, China, where it became popularized and spread throughout the region.

Cantonese deep-fried milk involves combining cow’s milk with cornstarch, sugar, salt, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. This mixture is then cooked and heated up to create a thick paste that is then cooled to allow it to solidify.

Once the milk mixture has solidified, it is then cut up into pieces and breaded with a batter and finally deep-fried in hot oil.

What Does Fried Milk Taste Like?

This fried milk snack tastes sort of like milk pudding that has been deep-fried. The inside is sweet, creamy, soft, and moist, while the outside is extra crispy and crunchy. This gives the Cantonese dessert a unique contrasting texture.

Let’s now have a look at what you’ll need for this Chinese fried milk recipe:

Fried Milk Ingredients

500ml of milk (2% or whole milk)
Condensed milk 60g
Evaporated milk 120ml
Vanilla extract 1 tsp
White sugar 45g
Table salt ¼ tsp
Unsalted butter 25g
Cornstarch 75g

Breading:

100g of Panko bread crumbs
60g of cornstarch
1 1/2 large eggs

Ingredient Notes

Panko bread crumbs: Make sure that you’re using panko bread crumbs and not regular bread crumbs for this Cantonese fried milk recipe, as panko bread crumbs produce a much crunchier texture compared to regular bread crumbs.

Substitutions

Cornstarch: If you don’t have cornstarch, then you can substitute it with tapioca starch.
Milk: You can substitute it with a vegan-friendly option if you’re lactose intolerant or can’t drink cow’s milk. Something like soy milk, oat milk would be ok. It won’t taste nearly as good though 😥.

How to Make Fried Milk

In a large bowl, combine the milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, table salt, and vanilla extract.
Next, add the cornstarch to the mixture and mix everything well together.

Now heat up a pan on medium-low heat.
Add unsalted butter to the pan and evenly coat the pan with the melted butter.

Now, using a sieve, pour the mixture into the pan through the sieve.
Using medium heat, stir the mixture around until it starts to thicken up.

Reduce the heat to medium-low once the mixture starts to thicken up, and continue cooking the mixture until it turns into a thick paste.

Now grease a container with some cooking oil. This will make it easier to remove the milk mixture after it has cooled down.

Next, pour out the mixture into the greased container.
Use a spatula to smooth out the top of the mixture, then pick up the container and slap it down a few times to spread out the milk mixture evenly in the container. Make sure to do this quickly while the mixture is still hot, otherwise, it will start to set.

Allow the mixture to cool down, then cover it with a lid and place it in the fridge, and let it cool down for at least 3 hours.
Once the milk mixture has solidified, remove it from the container onto a cutting board.
Cut the milk mixture into equal-sized pieces. You can cut it into whatever size you prefer, but I like to have mine in long strips resembling fish sticks.

Chopped up pieces of fried milk on cutting board

Add some oil to a pan or pot and heat it on medium-low heat until it reaches around 175°C (350°F).
Now it’s time to prepare the breading.
Beat and whisk 1 1/2 eggs into a bowl and set them aside. In another bowl, add in your cornstarch and set it aside. Finally, in a large bowl or plate, add your panko bread crumbs.

Now dip each piece of the milk mixture into the cornstarch first, followed by the egg mixture, and finally into the panko bread crumbs. Try to evenly coat all sides of the milk mixture with all 3 ingredients.

Adding a piece of fried milk to cornstarch

Adding a piece of fried milk to eye wash

Now add the pieces into the hot oil. The temperature will drop as soon as you add in pieces, so I don’t recommend adding more than 3-4 pieces at a time. Also, don’t immediately touch the fried milk pieces soon after adding them into the oil, as the crust hasn’t hardened yet.

Fry the pieces with the hot oil at a temperature of around 145°C-155°C (293°F-311°F). Do not go past this as it will get browned very quickly. Also, do not fry using a lower temperature as it will soak up a lot of oil.
Fry the milk mixture until it’s golden brown on both sides (approximately 3-4 minutes total).

Repeat this for the rest of the pieces.

Once done, rest the fried milk pieces on a wire rack to drain out some of the excess oil, then serve while still hot.

Holding piece of fried milk dipped with condensed milk

Tips

Add about 1-2 tsp of cooking oil to a container prior to pouring the milk mixture into the container. This will make removing it easier after it has cooled down and solidified.
When handling the milk mixture, be extra gentle as it is quite delicate and can easily break apart.
Make sure to evenly coat each piece of the milk mixture with cornstarch, egg wash, and the panko bread crumbs prior to frying it, to ensure that the whole piece is crispy.
Use a thermometer to check the oil temperature while frying the fried milk to ensure that the oil is neither too hot nor too cold.
If you don’t intend on eating all of the deep-fried milk dessert in one go, then I recommend only making as many pieces as you need with the egg wash and breading prior to frying them and storing the rest in the container in the fridge. The fried milk tastes best the day it is fried, especially within the first 1-2 hours, and will continue to get softer with each passing hour.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

Adding too many pieces of the milk mixture into the hot oil at once causes the oil temperature to significantly drop, leading to soggy oil-filled fried milk.
Using a very high temperature to fry the fried milk causes it to appear burnt and dark.

How to Store Fried Milk

It is recommended to consume all of the Hong Kong deep-fried milk after frying it for the best results.

However, if you cannot consume it all that day, then you can store the leftover fried milk sticks in the fridge for up to 4 days in a sealed container.

How to Reheat Fried Milk Leftovers?

Place the fried milk pieces inside an air fryer and air fry at 325°F for about 5-6 minutes or 350°F in an oven. Flip the fried milk pieces halfway through the cooking time.

Dishes That Go Well With Fried Milk

I recommend washing it all down with a nice cold glass of homemade soy milk.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Can I Make Fried Milk Vegetarian-Friendly?

You can substitute the cow’s milk with a plant-based alternative such as soy milk or oat milk. In addition, for the condensed milk and evaporated milk, you can use their plant-based counterparts as well, such as condensed coconut milk or condensed oat milk.

As for the egg wash, you can also get a plant-based egg product, such as Just Egg, or you can use soy milk in place of the eggs as an egg wash.

What Sauces Can I Use to Dip the Fried Milk In?

Condensed milk works well with this dish. In addition, good old-fashioned milk also seems to go well with it.

Can I Air Fry Fried Milk Instead of Deep Frying It?

Yes, you can!

Place the fried milk pieces into your air fryer and spray a light coating of oil onto the pieces to prevent them from drying out.

Air fry the fried milk at 325°F (165°C) for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on both sides.

Make sure to flip the air-fried milk halfway during the cooking time to get even browning on both sides. Also, spray another coating of oil onto it after you have flipped it.

Note: Air frying temperature and times will vary depending on what air fryer you are using. I’m using a Ninja Air Fryer at home.

Just a caveat: Air frying the fried milk won’t taste nearly as good as deep-frying it.

How Long Should I Deep-Fry the Fried Milk For?

Around 3-4 minutes in total, or until golden brown.

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