Thai Tea Ingredients

Series Summary

With its hallmark infusions of soy sauce and five spice powder, Asian cooking has been making its way around the world. In a relatively short amount of time, Asia’s light and delicious rice or noodle-based recipes have become favorites for many non-Asian cultures. While some would say that sharing the recipes to these dishes has led to the adulteration of the true Chinese culinary experience, ultimately the ability for taste to adapt works both ways. Just as people adopt some of the characteristics of their environment, cuisines use the ingredients available around them, traditional or otherwise. Nonetheless, there are fundamental aspects to any ethnic cooking that must be adhered to…otherwise, what would be the point of calling it Asian cuisine? In this free video series, learn how to make some simple Asian dishes. Chef Abbie Jaye demonstrates how to make a delicious Thai iced tea recipe. Learn how to make a peanut dip using organic peanut butter. Tired of old pasta recipes? Add some Asian spices to a pasta sauce and create a sesame noddle dish. Discover how to combine classic Asian seasonings, such as ginger, soy sauce and fresh herbs, and make many tasty meals. So, take a moment, and learn how to make Asian dishes today!

Video Transcript

"So, to make traditional Thai iced tea that's served in just about every Thai restaurant, the first thing you'll need is the Thai tea. You can get this in any Asian market, and if you don't have an Asian market near you, you can also purchase it online. Thai tea is a finely chopped blend of either green tea or black tea that is, sorry. Go ahead, and it's not sweetened, okay. Take three, okay, go and action. Okay, so to make traditional Thai iced tea that is served in just about every Thai restaurant you need a few ingredients. The first thing you need, and most important probably is the Thai tea, and you can find this in just about any Asian market. If you don't have an Asian market near you try online, because it is available there. Basically, Thai tea is finely chopped black or green tea that has cinnamon, vanilla, and star anise in it. The other ingredient you'll need is a sweetener of your choice. As I mentioned, in the Thai restaurant they generally use sweetened condensed milk, which is full of white sugar which is not the healthiest choice, and also has milk in it, and many people can't have dairy or choose not to have dairy. So instead, I like to use agave, raw agave nectar, which is considered a low glycemic sweetener. I as I mentioned, I volunteer at The Braille Institute, and the doctor there, who himself is diabetic, says that in moderation this is a safe sweetener for diabetics. Of course, if you're diabetic, it's always best to consult your doctor before drinking the whole bottle I would say, but any sweetener will do. I don't like maple syrup so much in in this particular recipe, cause while maple syrup is wonderful in many vegan recipes, it has a strong and distinct flavor that does not lend itself as well to the Thai tea. This is very neutral tasting so I like this. If you're a person that uses stevia, certainly you can try stevia in there, or sometimes stevia with ang with agave is a great choice, because you could end up using less agave, but still have that really nice sweet flavor. Again, how sweet you want it is really up to you. I'll give you suggestions for where to start, but remember, whether it's salt or sugar, you can always add; you can't take away, so start with a little bit, taste it and add more. Other than water, which of course you need to make the tea, and ice, crushed ice or cubed ice, you'll need a non-dairy creamer or any kind of non-dairy milk. I like the Silk creamer, available at all the natural food markets. This is plain. It also comes in vanilla, hazelnut, lots of other flavors, or any non-dairy milk will do; rice milk, soymilk, almond milk, oat milk, sesame milk, whatever you like. This just tastes really good to me in this recipe; more like the restaurant style, which is very rich and creamy like a milkshake."