In Vietnam on the hot days you can get a nice cold drink on the street, in a food shop, or at a coffee shop. It is called Sinh To Dau. In the shops you will pay about $1 or $1.50 for a small cup. It is usually 2 strawberries, a spoon of sugar, and lots and lots of ice.
If you want to make it go from okay to exceptional in the Vietnamese recipe I will share with you.
Vietnamese Sinh To Dau
yields: 2 large mugs
ingredients:
7 Strawberries
2 to 4 tbs of sugar
3 tbs condensed milk
4 tbs plain yoghurt
ice
American Strawberry Smoothie
yields: 2 large mugs
ingredients:
7 strawberries
1 banana
1 cup plain yoghurt
2 tbs sugar (or less)
milk (usually skim)
ice
In both recipes you will hull the strawberries. Put the strawberries in the blender, put in all the rest of the ingredients (except for the ice). Blend it all together. And slowly add the ice making it thick and smooth. In the VN version you will add more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries. In the American version the milk is added to thin out the smoothie so it becomes easier to drink. The VN version it is made thick and you drink with a large straw and you eat slowly as it melts on a hot night.
The American version I find very plain and boring, it is meant to be healthy. For some odd reason "healthy food" is equated to dull and bland. This is a fallacy of the health food movement, the sins that they have done to tofu is almost painful.
The VN version is flavorful, the condensed milk is much better (I think). But it is not a morning drink, it is an after dinner dessert. But again in the VN version you can adapt to make it either sour or sweet, depending on your tastes. In Vietnam, the choices aren't as limited as the smoothie. You can choose: strawberry, avocado, custard apple, mango (green or yellow), pineapple, coconut, etc.
The VN versions are usually simple, they will just do one fruit. I will give two recipes for you.
Sinh To Coconut and Blackberry
Yield: 2 large mugs
1 pint blackberries
1/2 cup coconut milk (sweetened Thai)
4 tbs condensed milk
1/4 tps vanilla extract
2 tbs sugar
4 tbs yoghurt
ice
Sinh To Italian Berry
Yield: 2 large mugs
2/3 cup strawberries
2/3 cup blueberries
2/3 cup blackberries
2/3 cup raspberries
5 basil leaves (not dried, fresh)
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
4 tbs sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of berry)
ice
Follow the same instructions as above. These recipes are not set in stone. Adapt and change to fit your tastes. All my recipes are suggestions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment