There is nothing more satisfying than making one of the basic elements of food at home, bread for example. Today I became a dairy queen and made my own cheese. Ricotta is a little hard to track down here in Korea so I decided to give it a go. I couldn’t believe how easy this recipe actually is. Just add acid to milk and heat it up!
Ingredients
1 litre of full fat milk
4 tablespoons of lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Cheese cloth or paper for steaming mandu ( When shopping just try saying 만두’ – 만두 찔 때 필요하는 천 ) I got mine at Daiso but its also available at most supermarkets.
Directions
Prepare by putting your cheese cloth over a sieve. Put the milk in a saucepan, add the salt and lemon juice, and stir. Heat the milk on a low to medium heat until bubbles are beginning to appear around the sides. If you have a thermometer the temperature should be between 165 -185F (74-85 C). Do not let it simmer. Once the milk has reached the right tempreture take it off the heat and stir it slowly for a few seconds and the milk should seperate into the thick white curds and the translucent liquid whey.
Use a a spoon to put the curds into the cloth lined sieve and let the liquid drain away until its reaches your desired texture.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Voilà homemade cheese within 30 minutes. Watch this space for lots of ricotta themed recipes.
