Last updated on December 11th, 2021 at 07:27 pm
Fried milk is a warm dessert like no others. It’s custard cloaked in a sweet and crispy-crunchy coating for a treat layered with textures.
I am fully aware that I am not alone in saying TikTok is amazing. I shouldn’t be surprised at how many insanely talented people there are out there, but I am—and it brings me so much joy. But nothing brings me more joy than discovering interesting new ways of eating food. In this instance, it’s fried milk. Fried milk! And it’s nothing like fried ice cream.
She Had Me At “Too Much Milk in the Fridge?”
Scrolling through TikTok, the video that sparked curiosity wasn’t eye-catching the way a 15 second ‘90s hiphop dance video is. It was just a saucepan filled with milk. But the person behind the video asked ‘Do you have too much milk in the fridge?’ If I didn’t have a half-gallon of milk that’s more funky than fresh, I might have kept scrolling—I’m so glad I stopped.
How Do You Fry Milk?
Fried milk is nothing like fried ice cream (which I am still totally confused about). It is actually milk that is deep-fried. I suppose mozzarella sticks are actually fried milk. But this is quite different because the milk isn’t fully processed. And it’s dessert. Of course, it’s semi-solid milk that’s fried, not fresh milk, thanks to the addition of cornstarch and sugar. I suppose “fried custard” is a more accurate moniker.
Basically, it’s thickened through boiling and then chilled to make it gelatinous enough that you can slice it, dip it in cornstarch, dunk it in a beaten egg and toss it in bread crumbs before frying.
The result is a cube of warm custard with a crunchy coating and it’s friggin’ delicious.
It’s also surprisingly easy to do.
Late to the Fried Milk Party
Americans are pretty much late to every party, so it’s no surprise that many cultures have their own versions of fried milk and the U.S. doesn’t. At the same time, it’s totally surprising. Fried anything is so on-brand for us.
The woman in the TikTok video is, I think, from Hong Kong and living in the United States. (When you hear her voice, you’ll understand why she has a whole ASMR YouTube channel called Shi’s Cooking). But it’s not just a bit of Asian cuisine. It’s a traditional Easter or lent treat in both Spain (leche frita) and Italy (crema fritta). And in India, people celebrate with gulab jamun. Gulab jamun is similar to fried milk, but it’s not fried. It’s made with milk solids and soaked in syrup—one of my favorites.
This fried milk, the crema fritta and leche frita recipe are all basically the same with a few minor differences. I like this one because the custard doesn’t involve egg or a vanilla bean. (But I’d be into making this treat in different flavors.) For now, I made a few tweaks of my own. I added salt to the breadcrumbs to make the final product taste more buttery. I also tossed the custard cubes in cinnamon and sugar after frying because everything tastes better with cinnamon and sugar.
Fried Milk Recipe
Ingredients
Custard
- 1 ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- cooking spray
Frying
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 4 cups vegetable oil for frying
Optional
- 2 TB granulated sugar for dusting
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Custard
- Prepare small 8"x5" rectangular dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar and milk. Mix well.
- Heat milk mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for about 7 minutes or when the milk gets very thick. Remove thickened milk from heat.
- Spoon custard mixture into prepared dish and smooth the top with a spatula so it's not lumpy.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Optional
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, sugar and salt. Set aside.
Frying
- Pour vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Using a candy thermometer or instant read thermometer, heat oil until it reaches 350℉.
- Place the corn starch, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow bowls.
- Add a pinch of salt to the breadcrumbs.
- Remove chilled custard from the refrigerator. Slice the custard into 2-inch cubes in the dish.
- Take one cube and dip it in the cornstarch to coat it. Shake off excess starch and dunk it in the egg, turning it to cover it so there's no white showing. Roll the cube in breadcrumbs.
- Using tongs, drop the cube in the hot oil. Let cook until golden brown, about 30-90 seconds.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the cube from the hot oil and place on a paper towel.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Let cool slightly and serve.
- Repeat for remaining custard cubes.
Related Recipes:
Cranberry Layer Cake with Cream and Walnuts
Millionaire Bars with Almond Butter Shortbread
Kabocha Pie with Gingersnap Crust
Maple-Walnut Pie
Other Ideas to Try
Alternatively, you could make a custard with egg (separate the egg whites from the egg yolk) and instead of using milk, sugar and cornstarch for the milk mixture, you can use sweetened condensed milk as a single ingredient and combine it with flour to thicken it over medium heat.
If you want custard with flavor, you can add lemon peel (or lemon zest) or vanilla. Or, you could take it into a different direction completely and use coconut milk or coconut oil. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll make piña colada fried milk recipe—lime and pineapple juice in the egg mixture for the custard and roll the fried cubes in toasted coconut? That might be a good winter project.
If you don’t have ground cinnamon, you can grate a cinnamon stick. If that’s too spicy, you can sprinkle the cubes with powdered sugar. If you want a different texture, you can toast and crush walnuts or pine nuts to add to the coating.