Serves: 4
Total Calories: 660

2 to 3 cups Sweetened Water
1/2 pound almonds
2 cups water
2 cups water
1/2 cup agar - agar
3 cups water

1. Prepare the sweetened water per recipe instructions.

2. Blanch almonds. Place half of them in a blender with water and blend to a smooth paste.

3. Strain mixture into a bowl through a double thickness of cheesecloth. Gather up corners of the cheesecloth and squeeze out every last drop of liquid then discard residue.

4. Repeat this process with remaining almonds and the second quantity of water.

5. Break agar-agar in 1-inch sections and place in a saucepan with remaining water. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook until agar-agar dissolves and begins to thicken. Then stir in almond liquid and cook 1 minute more.

6. Pour the mixture into a shallow rectangular pan. Let cool then refrigerate until set. Cut in 1/2-inch cubes or diamond shapes.

7. Transfer to a deep serving dish. Serve with enough sweetened water poured over so almond cubes float. Garnish with slivered almonds, fresh strawberries or canned fruit such as mandarin orange sections, pineapple chunks, lichees or fruit cocktail.

NOTE: This dish has many names-Almond Curd (because it's similar in consistency to bean curd), Almond Junket, and Almond Lake. It can be converted to a party punch by cutting the almond curd into finer pieces and using more of the sweetened water.

VARIATIONS:
* For the sweetened water, substitute the heavy syrup of any canned fruit.
* In step 2, grind the almonds instead then bring to a boil with 3 cups water and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Strain through the cheesecloth as in step 3.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 4
Total Calories: 660
Calories from Fat: 225

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Sweet Dishes
Almond Cookies
Almond Float I
Almond Float II
Banana Gelatin
Eight Precious Pudding
Eight Precious Pudding: Fruit and Nut Combinations
Eight Precious Pudding: Sweetened Water
Ginger Soup
Ginger Soup: Dumplings
Glazed Chestnut Balls
Glazed Whole Chestnuts
Green Pea Pudding
Honeyed Apples
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture A
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture B
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture C
Honeyed Bananas
Honeyed Crab Apples
Hot Lotus Tea
Peking Dust I
Peking Dust II
Peking Dust: Glazed Fruit
Pineapple Gelatin
Sesame Seed Cookies
Spiced Roasted Peanuts
Steamed Pears
Steamed Red Date Cake
Steamed Sponge Cake
Sugared Chestnut Balls
Sugared Walnuts
Sweet Almond Tea I
Sweet Almond Tea II
Sweet Almond Tea III
Sweet Grapefruit Tea
Sweet Orange Tea I
Sweet Orange Tea II
Sweet Peanut Soup
Sweet Pineapple Tea
Sweet Walnut Tea
Sweetened Water
Turkish Barley Pudding
Water Chestnut Pudding