What Is Double-Skin Milk? 双皮奶 Explained

Find your next discovery

Search the atlas

Search by English name, Chinese name, region or meal.

Guangdong · Dessert

Double-Skin Milk

双皮奶

shuāng pí nǎi

A silky Shunde milk custard named for the two delicate milk skins formed during preparation.

A bowl of Cantonese double-skin milk topped with mango and red beans
Photo: AI-generated for Chinese Food Atlas · No reuse license granted
FromGuangdong
Eating occasionSnack
Dish typeDessert
FlavorMilky · Silky · Gently sweet

01

What is Double-Skin Milk?

A silky Shunde milk custard named for the two delicate milk skins formed during preparation.

02

Flavor profile

Milky · Silky · Gently sweet

A silky Shunde milk custard named for the two delicate milk skins formed during preparation.

03

Key ingredients

Milk—traditionally rich buffalo milk—egg whites and sugar.

This is a food guide, not a recipe. Ingredients and preparation vary between cooks, shops and cities.

04

How it is usually made

Heated milk is cooled to form the first skin; the milk is then combined with sweetened egg white, returned beneath that skin and gently steamed, creating another skin as it sets.

05

Origin and food culture

Double-skin milk is associated with Shunde in Foshan, an area noted for freshwater and dairy dishes. Traditional versions use the richness of local buffalo milk.

Its name refers to the milk skins formed during cooling and steaming, not to two separate layers of custard. It may be served warm or chilled.