Winter Melon Tea 冬瓜茶
This delightfully soothing and refreshing Winter Melon Tea 冬瓜茶 is something we recently discovered when eating out at a local Taiwanese restaurant. It was so refreshing and good I couldn't believe that I'd never come across this delicious drink before!
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 5 lbs of winter melon, 2.2 kg
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, 300g
- 1 big lump rock sugar
Instructions
- 1
Slice rind off the winter melon. Cut away the pith and seeds in the middle and discard. Dice the melon into 1/2 inch dice. Put winter melon dice and brown sugar in a bowl, toss to combine and let macerate at room temperature an hour.
- 2
Scoop the macerated melon into a cooking pot, add rock sugar and enough water to just cover and let simmer over low heat until the winter melon is transparent, around 1 1/2 hours. check occasionally and top up with a bit of water if needed.
- 3
Use hand blender to puree the water melon (optional). Pour out into cheese cloth set over a strainer over a bow. Use cheese cloth to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. This is the winter melon syrup.
- 4
Pour concentrated winter melon syrup into a sterilized airtight jar. Will keep in the fridge for 10 days or so as long as you use clean, dry utensils to touch it. When making winter melon tea add 1 part winter melon syrup to 2-3 parts water. Serve chilled. Enjoy!