Thai Iced Tea
One of the benefits of living in the Seattle area is the abundance of South Asian cuisine. Thai, Korean, Vietnamese or Indian, all can be found in one city. I love walking down to our local Thai restaurant and ordering a hot bowl of spicy Tom Kha Kai and washing it down with a tall glass of Thai Iced Tea. The creamy cold drink is the perfect remedy for taming that chili. After my first glass, I was hooked. But how does one duplicate this charming beverage?
The origins of Thai Iced Tea are difficult to pin down, but it is thought to have originated as a regional spiced tea, not unlike an Indian Chai, which is traditionally served with milk. For a long time, milk was an inconvenient ingredient to keep without refrigeration, but canned milk filled that need by being shelf stable even in the tropical heat. Many people in South Asia, such as the Bangledeshi and the Vietnamese, popularly drink chilled tea or coffee with sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk. In Thailand, Thai iced tea is ubiquitous, often served in restaurants or sold by street vendors in plastic bags.
To my disappointment, most Thai Iced Tea mixes include dyes to give the drink its characteristic orange hue. While I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with a little food dye, it strikes me as unnecessary. Instead, I opted to brew my own from scratch. Luckily, you won’t have to go that far because I have a recipe using our own Thai Tea blend. Ours is a Chinese Keemun tea base with cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, orange peel, and of course, star anise. For 6 servings, you will need the following:
1 oz Thai Tea (or 3 tablespoons)
6 cups of Water
Crushed Ice
1/3 cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk *
1/3 cup of evaporated milk (half-and-half can substitute) *
Sprigs of fresh mint for garnish (optional)
*Note: A dairy free version can be made substituting the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk with coconut milk (the thick kind that comes in a can.)
You may have noticed the lack of sugar in this recipe, and that is because the sweetened condensed milk alone is sweet enough for my tastes. I suggest trying it without adding sugar first and then sweetening to taste after you’ve added the sweetened condensed milk. However, if you are using Coconut Milk instead, you’ll want to add sugar while the tea is brewing.
You must first brew a pot of STRONG tea. Stronger is better because we will be diluting it later with milk and ice. One way of doing this is simmering the tea leaves and water on the stove for about three minutes and then removing from heat. Add the sweetened condensed milk now, while the tea is hot. Then, let it steep for at least thirty minutes and cool.
Now that you have your extra strong Thai Tea, pour into glasses with ice leaving about an inch at the top for the evaporated milk. If you want to be fancy, add just a touch of yellow/orange food coloring. Pour the evaporated milk in slowly with a spoon to get that layered look. Then garnish with a sprig of mint and serve alongside something spicy.