Wintermelon milk tea has been satisfying taste buds around the world! Traditionally it is a summer popular drink. But it spreads to neighboring countries like China, Vietnam, and India with a new form of winter melon milk tea.

winter melon milk tea|chinasichuanfood.com — winter melon milk tea

What’s Winter melon

Winter melon, scientifically named Benincasa Hispida, is a melon that resembles a hybrid between a watermelon and a cucumber. It is a cucurbit family member, including melons, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and pumpkins. This type of melon is easy to transport and store once harvested. Some people know winter melon as ash gourd, a mild-flavored melon often used as a vegetable in Asian cuisines, particularly Chinese and Indian cuisine. It is often used in soups, stir-frying, braised dishes, and even in drinks.

What’s Winter Melon Tea

Watermelon tea is a type of brew made with syrup-like liquid. There are two ways of making winter melon tea. Sometimes after harvesting, the gourds are dried until they turn into what look like large white cubes with thin green rinds on the outside. To make the tea itself, these cubes are boiled together with the sugar until they dissolve into a thick syrup-like liquid. Or this tea can be made from fresh winter melon too just like what we did in this recipe. To make the tea, the syrup-like liquid is mixed with water or milk tea. The resulting drink is sweet yet subtly fragrant with hints of cinnamon or cardamom. Very unique and definitely a large group of lovers.

What’s winter melon milk tea

Winter melon milk tea is a traditional Chinese milk tea drink made with winter melon, black tea, and evaporated or condensed milk. The addition of the winter melon tea liquid gives the milk tea healthier properties and a unique flavor.

The Origin of Winter Melon Tea

Winter melon tea originated in southern China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), but obtain its first reputation in Taiwan. It was first served as an accompaniment to meals but eventually grew in popularity because of its sweet flavor and natural cooling properties. These days, winter melon tea is served all over China—as well as other parts of Asia—and has become one of the most popular drinks in Chinese culture.

Health Benefits of Winter Melon Tea

Winter melon tea is prized for its many health benefits. It contains antioxidants that help fight off free radicals that can cause cell damage and lead to disease. Furthermore, winter melon tea is known for its cooling effects—it helps reduce body heat during hot summer months and can even help aid digestion after heavy meals. So this is the ideal drink for hot summer days.

Make the syrup-like liquid

To sweeten up the liquid, we will use two types of sugar- powder brown sugar and rock sugar. Brown sugar gives a more progressive sweetness and a strong and dark color. While rock sugar gives a more profound but reserved sweetness. You can use only one type for sure. Or even mixing in slab sugar.

We will use fresh winter melon for this recipe. Cut the winter melon into small chunks. Mix with brown sugar and set aside for 1 hour. Then we will get the basic liquid so there is no need to add extra water.

Then transfer the winter melon cubes along with the water to a pot, add rock sugar, and heat over a slow fire for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time at the first stage to avoid burning.

Then strain the liquid out. Remember to press the softened winter melon so you can get as much liquid as possible.

Winter melon tea

Take around 3 tablespoons of winter lemon syrup and then add 2 slices of lime, pour in winter. It can be either warm or cold.

Winter melon milk tea

Cook some boba pearls first.

In a pot, add 1 tablespoon of black tea leaves with 1 cup of water. Bring to boiling and then strain the tea water out.

Add boba pearls to the bottom of the serving cup, and add 3 tablespoons of the winter melon syrup. And then add 1/2 cup of the black tea water. Pour in milk.