Ask any Taiwanese native what’s the one store you need to visit, they’ll respond “7-11”. What? Hear me out. 7-11 in Taiwan (or in Asia in general) is simply ~amazing~. They have delicious prepared foods, snacks, drinks, you name it. Whenever I visit, I always grab the following items: tea egg from the steamer, apple bread from the bread aisle, chrysanthemum tea from the fridge, and a packet of nougat.
Taiwanese nougat is the bomb dot com. Although I feel like the word nougat isn’t quite the right name for it, it’s honestly more like a milk candy. Traditional Italian nougat is made with honey and beaten egg whites. Taiwanese nougat uses a lot of powdered milk, and the flavor that comes through is predominantly milk rather than sugar. It is very rich and it is often mixed with peanuts.
Since I’m very far from Taiwan now, whenever I get cravings for Taiwanese nougat, I’ve got to make it. Luckily, it’s not hard. I scoured the internet and came across this website (which I think is like a Taiwanese version of AllRecipes). I played around a little bit with the measurements and came up with the version that takes me back to the candy aisle at 7-11 every single time.
These chewy nougats only take 10 minutes to make and yet it looks and tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen perfecting them!
Taiwanese Nougat
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
- 3 Tbs unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup powdered milk
- 1/3 cup unsalted peanuts, roasted
- 2 Tbs chocolate chips (for chocolate nougat)
Method
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter and marshmallows over medium heat until smooth (like if you are making rice krispies).
- Stir in powdered milk and mix until well incorporated. Turn heat down to low and keep stirring until mixture is glossy, about 1 minute. You have to work quick here!
- If you want to make chocolate nougat, add the chocolate chips and stir until well incorporated. Stir in peanuts.
- Spoon nougat mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Place another parchment paper or Silpat over mixture. Using a rolling pin, gently roll the mixture until it’s even in height. Let cool until set.
- Cut nougat into bite-size pieces (you should be able to get 20-30 pieces, depending on how big you cut them. Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe notes:
- For this recipe, I used Spanish peanuts. They are smaller in size and have red skin. I find that its the most similar to the peanuts I find in Taiwan. Of course, you can use whatever nuts you want!
Adapted from icook.tw
spoonfulofwonderful.com 