EVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY
THEME: FOOD POETRY
RECIPE: VEGAN THAI ICED TEA
Vegan Thai Iced Tea is a creamy, refreshing and delicious beverage. What I like about this version of the authentic Thai Iced Tea is that it is not too sweet and is much lighter. Don’t get me wrong, I love the authentic one with sweetened condensed milk but cannot indulge in it on a regular basis. I’ve used coconut milk which adds a bit of the natural sweetness. As a result, the additional sweetener used is less.
Street Food or rather Drink – Thai Iced Tea/ Cha Yen
The Thai Iced Tea that is generally served on the streets of Thailand doesn’t have spices and usually is orangish in colour. The reason being that the ready packed tea leaves mixture most vendors use has yellow food coloring. The main taste is from the sweet condensed milk used. Thai Iced Tea sold in restaurants and cafes tends to have a flavorful spicy flavour as spices are added.
I chose to add spices. I’ve enjoyed this homemade iced tea with sweetened condensed milk and its awesome. Give it a try, either version.
Some More Refreshing Beverages:
- Lychee Rose Syrup Drink
- Beetroot Tomato Juice
- Healthy Beetroot Watermelon Juice
- Aam Panna – raw mango drink
- Moringa and Mint Iced Tea
- Watermelon Iced Tea
- Lemongrass and Mint Iced Tea
- Passion Fruit Iced Tea
- Basil Mint Lemon Drink
Sunday Funday:
Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers who every Sunday share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in.
Are you wondering what Vegan Thai Iced Tea and Food Poetry have in common? Well, April is the National Poetry Month and Stacy who blogs at food lust people love.com recommended that we write our own poem, long or short about the recipe or a motivational ingredient. I put my name down for participation, as not only is it challenging to write my own poem but also it gave me the opportunity to get my favorite summer beverage on my blog. During our month long stay in Thailand, the one refreshing drink that was easily found at every nook and corner was Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee. I loved sipping on the cold flavorful liquid and enjoyed the jelly like boba occasionally.
For me poems are what I taught the little ones when I was teaching. As for when I was in school we had to memorize Daffodils by William Wordsworth. All I can remember is ” I wandered lonely as a cloud…..something something something.. when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils. After that its all blank!
However, on a serious note it is recommended that as we age one should try and memorize a song or a poem. I think I’ll start with Daffodils.
My Poem:
To celebrate National Poetry Month, I chose to write a short poem on one of my favorite ingredients, Coconut. While one can use any nut milk, soy milk or rice/oat milk for Vegan Thai Iced Tea, I chose coconut milk. So without wasting much time here is the poem:
Check Out Some More Food Poetry by Fellow Bloggers:
- An Ode to Kung Pao Tacos by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Bacon Queso from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
- Chicken Parmesan Pizza by Making Miracles
- Foraging-Shy, a Haiku + Mushroom Ragù from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- I Cooked for Pleasure: Chicken Fried Bacon by Palatable Pastime
- Tri Color Pasta & Freedom Haiku Poem from Sneha’s Recipe
- Vegan Thai Iced Tea by Mayuri’s Jikoni
Ingredients Required For Vegan Thai Iced Tea:
- Tap/ Bottled Water – need to heat the water to infuse the flavors of the spices and tea.
- Star Anise – for flavoring, use only one
- Cardamom – use the cardamom pods. Slightly crack it to allow full infusion of flavors
- Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
- Vanilla Pod – quarter of the pod is enough for that subtle flavour. If you don’t have vanilla pod then add vanilla extract after straining the tea mixture.
- Black Tea Leaves – for colour best to use loose tea leaves. However, if you don’t have any, use tea bags. If possible try and get Thai Tea.
- Turmeric Powder – I add a bit of turmeric powder to get the orangish tea colour.
- Sweetener – I use either brown sugar, maple syrup or coconut sugar. Use any of your choice.
- Coconut Milk – must be thick and chilled.
You Tube Video:
VEGAN THAI ICED TEA
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 star anise
- 4 cardamoms
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- ¼ vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp black tea leaves
- 1 tbsp brown sugar/coconut sugar/maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut milk chilled
- some ice cubes
Instructions
- Add water to a saucepan and heat it over medium heat.
- Add star anise, cardamoms, cinnamon and vanilla pod piece.
- Allow the water to come to a boil.
- Add tea leaves and turmeric powder.
- Take the pan off the heat. Cover the pan with a lid.
- Allow the spices and tea to infuse for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain the tea mixture using a sieve.
- Add the sweetener of yoru choice and mix well.
- Allow the tea mixture to cool a bit.
- Chill both the tea mixture and coconut milk in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Add ice cubes to two tall glasses.
- Pour the tea mixture over the ice cubes, three quarter full.
- Top with coconut milk and serve.
Notes
- To make authentic Thai Iced Tea, replace the coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk. Add sugar according to your taste.
- Make the tea as strong as you like.
- Add spices of your choice.
Pin For Later:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962