Peanut Sesame Milk with Jujubes

中文菜谱： 芝麻花生红枣桂圆露

My old soymilk maker finally broke after almost 10 years’ service in my kitchen.  I bought a new soymilk machine to replace it.  Oh man, I had no idea how soymilk machines had evolved during the past 10 years!  All my old machine did was to blend soy beans and heat the soymilk.  But the new ones available on market now can do so much more.  They can make smoothies, puddings, porridges and all kinds of nut milk instead of pure soy milk.   

I have been trying different nut milk and soy milk after I got my new toy.  It is been so much fun and I can’t wait to share some of my great experiments with you guys!

Nuts used in the recipe would have so much better result if you dry roast them first.

Ingredients：

30 g roasted unsalted peanuts
20 g roasted unsalted black sesame seeds
10 g dried longan fruits
30 g jujubes
10 g steel cut oats

Directions：

Rinse jujubes, oats and longan fruits under running water.  Drain well.  If the jujubes are large in size, cut them into small pieces.

Add everything to a soymilk maker.

Add 1000 ml cold water.  

Turn on the soymilk maker and select “grains” function.

30 minutes later, hot peanut sesame milk with jujubes is done!

There is no need for adding extra sugar.  Jujubes and dried longan fruits have naturally sweet flavors.  The nuttiness from peanuts and sesame seeds makes the drink very comforting and pleasant O(∩_∩)O~

Passion Fruit and Lemon Water

中文菜谱： 百香果柠檬蜜饮

Passion fruit has beautiful name in China.  We call it “fruit with a hundred fragrances”.  It is true.  Passion fruit deserves that name.  When you closely smell a passion fruit, you can pick up the scents from pineapple, mango, pomegranate, strawberry, lychee…and dozens of other tropical fruits.

It is indeed an amazing and delicious fruit.  Besides eating it with a spoon, I also love making all kinds of drinks with it.    I posted “Iced Tea with Passion Fruit and Berries ” before.  And we are making passion fruit and lemon water today. 

Ingredients：

2 passion fruits
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced
3 to 5 teaspoons honey （adjust the amount according to passion fruits’ tartness and personal taste）
2 cups of mineral water
ice cubes

Directions：

Cut the passion fruits open in the center.  Scoop out the flesh and add it to two glasses, along with thinly sliced lemon and honey.

Add half mineral water.  Stir with a spoon until honey dissolves.  Add ice cubes and remaining mineral water.

Isn’t it easy and simple? 

You will have 2 wonderful and amazing delicious drinks in less than 2 minutes!

Passion fruits’ taste and flavor are delicate and refreshing, which makes it the perfect drink for summer. 

If you like tea, just replace mineral water with black tea.  It is very tasty too!

Iced Tea with Passion Fruit and Berries

中文菜谱：

百香果柠檬冰红茶

I use 1 passion fruit for 2 glasses of ice tea.  It doesn’t show much in the photo.  But trust me, a sip of the tea, you can tell passion fruit is in the tea.  Its aroma is so strong, intense and unique that I can’t help falling in love with it the very first time I tasted it.

Igredients for ice tea: (serves two)

1 passion fruit
2 to 4 strawberries
1/2 lemon
2 to 3 black tea bags
8 to 10 blueberries
2 to 3 tablespoons raw honey (or adjust amount to personal preferences)
ice cubes
2 to 3 cups of water

Directions：

Boil the water in a small pot.  Remove from heat.  Add black tea bags.  Discard tea bags after 8 to 10 minutes. 

Add honey to the tea when it cools down to not too hot to touch.

Thinly slice lemon and strawberries.

With a sharp knife, cut passion fruit into halves.  

Scope the juice and flesh to two glasses.

Add lemon, strawberries, blue berries and ice.

Add black tea.

Stir and serve immediately.

Boba Milk Tea with Black Sugar Syrup

中文菜谱：

黑糖鲜奶茶

Yes, we Asian people are totally obsessed with tea, milk tea and boba milk tea. Don’t get me start by counting the milk tea café on the streets in any big cities in China.  Chances are they might outnumber coffee shops and bars combined.

Tea choices in these cafes don’t always stay the same.  There are some hot trends once in a while.  For example, currently milk tea with black sugar syrup is more popular than other ones.

When I am too lazy to drive to China town, I DIY my own milk tea at home.  Trust me; it is so simple that even my husband can manage it! O(∩_∩)O~

The one from above is icy cold version.  And the one following is hot tea version.

For the tea：

10 g black tea leaves/ or 2 black tea bags
4 to 6 cups of water (or adjust water amount to taste)   

For black sugar syrup：

1/2 cup black sugar/ or really dark brown cane sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons water  

Other ingredients：

Black tapioca pearls (sold in any Asian grocery stores)
whole milk
water for cooking tapioca pearls

Directions：

Add black tea leaves to a French press  

Boil the water.  Remove from heat and let it to cool down for a couple minutes to probably around 195F/90C

Add water to the French press.

Add black sugar and water to a small thick sauce pan.  Cook over medium low heat until the mixture becomes syrupy.

It is really dark brown cane sugar and tastes like what we had back in childhood.

Cook the black tapioca pearls according to the directions on the package.  Cook in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover with lid and leave the tapioca balls in hot water for another 2 to 3 minutes. 

Rinse tapioca pearls and drain well.  Add to a small bowl along with 2 to 3 teaspoons black sugar syrup.  Mix well with a spoon.

Spoon the tapioca pearls to a tall glass.  Add more syrup if desired.

Frother 1/2 cup whole milk with the steam wand from an espresso machine

Add black tea to the glass, and then frothered milk.  Drizzle some syrup on the top.

Refrigerate any leftover black tea. 

To make the icy cold version, add freshly cooked tapioca pearls, black sugar syrup, ice cubes, milk.  Stir with a jumbo straw for boba

Add black tea and ice cubes.

Add milk

Stir and serve.  It is such a nice treat in a hot summer day！O(∩_∩)O~

Mango Orange Smoothie

中文菜谱： 芒果甜橙smoothie

Summer in Texas comes a lot earlier and faster than I thought.  The temperature bumps up from seventies to eighties, and then to nineties in merely a couple weeks.  It looks like we are going to enjoy all kinds of icy drinks for a really long time.

Mango and orange go really great together.  The combination is refreshing and very tropical-like.  

Ingredients：

1 ripe ataulfo mango
1 sweet orange
1/2 cup ice cubes
water as needed
1 to 2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Directions：

Peel mango and orange.  Cut into small cubes.

Add mango and orange, along with ice and water, to Vitamix  

The fruits are super sweet this time, so I leave out the honey.

Turn on Vitamix.  Blend on high speed until smoothie is smooth and silky.

Pour into a tall glass 

You have a glass of 100% pure fruit smoothie and 100% deliciousness!  O(∩_∩)O~