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Vietnamese Yogurt

Sua chua: condensed milk yogurt set in small jars in a cooling oven.

60-100 ml freshyogurt starter,sweetened orunsweetenedbring fullyto roomtemperaturefor 1-2hours840 ml unsweetenedmilk160 ml sweetenedcondensed milkstirtogetherheat to80-85°C,stirringcontinuouslycool to40-43°Cgentlytemperstarterwith 2-3tbspmilk,then foldinto theremainingmilkstrainifneeded8 125 ml jars andutensilssterilizein boilingwater for30 secondsdry at 100°Cfor 2-3minutes orair-drycompletelydivideamongjars,skimbubbles,andcoverheat oven to 70-80°Cfor 5 minutesplacejarsinoven,thenturnovenoffafter 1-1.5 hours, heat oven to 50-60°C for 2-3 minutesafter another 1-1.5 hours, heat oven to 50-60°C for 1-2 minutesincubate without opening the oven or moving the jars until set and tangy, 4-5 hours totalrefrigerate when set and sufficiently tart
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STARTER: 60-100 ml fresh yogurt starter, sweetened or unsweetened
bring fully to room temperature for 1-2 hours STARTER

JARS: 8 125 ml jars and utensils
sterilize in boiling water for 30 seconds JARS
dry at 100°C for 2-3 minutes or air-dry completely JARS

MILK: 840 ml unsweetened milk
COND: 160 ml sweetened condensed milk
BASE: stir together MILK COND
heat to 80-85°C, stirring continuously BASE
cool to 40-43°C BASE

CULTURED: gently temper starter with 2-3 tbsp milk, then fold into the remaining milk BASE STARTER
strain if needed CULTURED
FILLED: divide among jars, skim bubbles, and cover CULTURED JARS

OVEN: heat oven to 70-80°C for 5 minutes
INCUBATING: place jars in oven, then turn oven off FILLED OVEN
after 1-1.5 hours, heat oven to 50-60°C for 2-3 minutes
after another 1-1.5 hours, heat oven to 50-60°C for 1-2 minutes
incubate without opening the oven or moving the jars until set and tangy, 4-5 hours total
refrigerate when set and sufficiently tart

Notes

Sweetened condensed milk is what separates this from plain yogurt — it sets firmer and tastes closer to a custard than a tart breakfast yogurt.

Temperatures do most of the work:

  • 80-85 C for the milk. This is a denature-the-proteins step, not a boil. Stir continuously or the bottom scorches.
  • 40-43 C before the starter goes in. Hotter kills the culture; colder stalls it. Tempering the starter with a few tablespoons of warm milk first keeps it from seizing into lumps.
  • Around 45 C during incubation. The oven is used as an insulated box, not as a heater: it is warmed, switched off, and nudged back up twice.

The two short reheats are the fussy part of the schedule. Set a timer for the first at 1-1.5 hours and the second 1-1.5 hours after that, then leave the jars completely alone until the 4-5 hour mark.

Judging when it is done

Tilt a jar. Set yogurt pulls away from the glass in one piece and leaves a clean edge; unset yogurt slides. Some whey on the surface is fine. Refrigerate as soon as it is set and tart enough — the flavor keeps sharpening while it is warm, and a jar left too long turns sour and weeps.