Author Notes
I have always had a THING for ice- iced tea, iced coffee, popsicles etc etc. I have been experimenting this summer with various slushy style bevs that are not too labor intensive. This recipe has become a daily standard. I use Equal instead of sugar and it works great for me, but you can use whatever you prefer, as long as you can get your sweetener to dissolve.. I use plain Greek yoghurt because one cup of it has TWENTY grams of protein, which makes it a good breakfast or lunch.. This mixture, if you choose not to freeze it, is like a healthy version of the very sweet condensed milk+thai tea beverage you receive when you order 'iced thai tea (at a restaurant in New England at least.) Thai Tea is a ground up brownish reddish color loose tea with a distinctly vanilla flavor (to me, but the ingredient list says 'thai tea and star anise'.) It is very inexpensive (~$1-$4 per pound) but not all Asian stores carry it. You can order through http://importfood.com/thaiicetea.html
in WA state. —LeBec Fin
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Ingredients
- Thai Tea Concentrate
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1/2 cup
plain loose thai tea leaves (no sugar, dairy)
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4-5 cups
boiling water (your water will boil alot faster if you cover it with a lid.)
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1
very fine mesh wire mesh strainer
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1
4 cup container w/ no-spill lid
- Mixing, Freezing and Pureeing the Thai Tea Slushy
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2 cups
plain Greek yoghurt
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2 cups
Thai tea concentrate, room temp or chilled
-
sugar or honey to taste, or 7 packets Equal
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1
5 cup rectangular plastic container with no-spill lid(like Sterilite or Rubbermaid)
Directions
-
Thai Tea Concentrate:
Add thai tea to pot of water that has just come to a boil and the heat has been turned off.
Cover with a lid that doesn't touch the tea. Leave 6-10 hours (no; it does not get bitter.) Strain the tea through the fine mesh strainer into the container and refrigerate.
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Making the Smoothie:
Add yoghurt and sugar to the blender. Add the thai tea concentrate. Blend thoroughly. Pour into rectangular container and freeze solid. *
Leftover concentrate can be used to make pitchers of iced Thai tea, or more slushies.
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Remove container from freezer. Loosen lid and put in microwave on high for 2 minutes. Pour the resulting liquid into the blender. Flip out the frozen rectangle, and cube roughly with a chef knife. Add to blender and work 'Ice Crush' or 'Smoothie' speed til you have a finely ground slushy. If the mixture is too hard to work, and you get a dry icy mixture, add some fluid to free up the blades a bit.
Serve.
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* This type and size container is what I use so that the frozen block of mixture is not too deep (which would take longer to soften up and would be harder to chop.) and has a flat side to make the chopping stable and safer.
My eating passions are Japanese, Indian, Mexican; with Italian and French following close behind. Turkish/Arabic/Mediterranean cuisines are my latest culinary fascination. My desert island ABCs are actually 4 Cs: citrus, cumin, cilantro, cardamom, and GARLIC! I am so excited by the level of sophistication that I see on Food52 and hope to contribute recipes that will inspire you like yours do me. I would like to ask a favor of all who do try a recipe of mine > Would you plse review it and tell me truthfully how it worked for you and/or how you think it would be better? I know many times we feel that we don't want to hurt someone's feelings, but. i really do want your honest feedback because it can only help me improve the recipe.Thanks so much.
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