Thai Drinks
In a country as hot as Thailand, it's unsurprising that its most popular drinks feature plenty of ice! More surprisingly perhaps is that condensed milk is also a feature of some. Its sweet milkiness helps to combat the heat of the spicy food for which Thailand is renowned.
Thai Iced Tea
Per glass you need:
- ¼ pint water
- 2 teaspoons black tea leaves
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon condensed milk
- crushed ice
Boil the water and pour on top of the tea leaves (in a teapot or jug). Allow to stand for 2 minutes and then strain. Add the sugar then leave to cool. Fill a glass with crushed ice and add the condensed milk. Pour on the cold tea and stir before serving.
Thai Iced Coffee
Per glass you need:
- 2 tablespoons filter coffee
- ¼ pint water
- 1-2 tablespoons condensed milk
- Ice cubes
Prepare the filter coffee in your usual way. Place the condensed milk in a tall glass. Half-fill the glass with coffee and stir well. Fill the glass with ice and stir again before serving.
Coconut Milk
- 1 young coconut
- 3 cups of cold water
Break open a coconut and grate the flesh into a large piece of cheesecloth over a bowl. Pour over the water. Squeeze the water and grated coconut together with your hands. Do this for about 5 minutes then lift the cheesecloth up, make a ball of the coconut and squeeze out as much of what is now coconut milk as you can. Discard the coconut and enjoy the drink.
- A young coconut is pale-coloured and doesn't have the rough hairy covering of an older one.
Iced Watermelon
- 1 watermelon
- Ice
Cut open the watermelon and roughly chop the flesh. Discard most of the seeds.
Crush the ice well before putting some in a blender. Whiz it to make a slush. Add the watermelon flesh and keep whizzing and adding ice or watermelon until you have a drink of the right consistency. Serve in a tall glass with a straw.
Thai Lemonade
- 200 ml water
- 4 oz sugar
- 3 lemons
- ½ litre soda water
- Ice
Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Halve and squeeze the lemons. Put the juice into a jug with the soda water. Add the sugar syrup, stirring and tasting until it's just right for you.
Fill a glass with crushed ice and cover with the lemonade. Serve garnished with a slice of orange and a straw.
Thai Cocktail
- 2 oz white rum
- 2 cups roughly chopped pineapple flesh
- 2 oz pineapple juice
- 2 oz orange juice
- 1 oz coconut milk
- crushed ice
Place the first 5 ingredients in a blender and whiz for 30 seconds. Add crushed ice and blend until you have a slush. Add more ice as necessary. Serve garnished with a slice of pineapple.
- For an authentic Thai flavour use seeded and sliced fresh jackfruits if available.
- Jackfruits are part of the mulberry family and can reach 3' in length and weigh up to 75 lbs!
We'll finish off with a drink that looks a little bit unusual!
Thai Sweet Basil seed drink.
For this you need Thai Basil seeds, which are available from Asian supermarkets - or you can grow your own!
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon clear honey
- 4 teaspoons Thai sweet basil seed
Stir the sugar into the water until it dissolves. Add the honey and stir. Add the basil seeds and stir. Leave for a few minutes before drinking.
- The basil seeds will expand and it will look as though you are drinking frog spawn!
- Thai custom says that this drink is an aid to slimming.
