• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

China Sichuan Food

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Index
  • Newest
  • Sichuan
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Index
    • Newest
    • Sichuan
    • Subscribe
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » vegetables and Mushrooms

    Winter Melon Tea and Winter Melon Milk Tea

    Last Modified: March 5, 2023 by Elaine| 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    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
    Jump to
    • What's Winter melon
    • What's Winter Melon Tea
    • What's winter melon milk tea
    • The Origin of Winter Melon Tea 
    • Health Benefits of Winter Melon Tea 
    • Make the syrup-like liquid
    • Winter melon tea
    • Winter melon milk tea
    • 🧾Recipe

    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.

    winter melon milk tea|chinasichuanfood.com
    winter melon tea syrup-like liquid

    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.

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

    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. 

    winter melon tea |chinasichuanfood.com

    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.

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

    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.

    winter melon tea |chinasichuanfood.com

    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 syrup liuiqd|chinasichuanfood.com

    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 tea|chinasichuanfood.com

    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.

    winter melon milk tea |chinasichuanfood.com

    Add boba pearls to the bottom of the serving cup, and add 3 tablespoons of the winter melon syrup. And then add ½ cup of the black tea water. Pour in milk.

    winter melon tea|chinasichuanfood.com

    🧾Recipe

    winter melon tea|chinasichuanfood.com

    Winter Melon Tea and Winter Melon Milk Tea

    Elaine
    Healthy and traditionally winter melon tea. Perfect iced drink for summer. This winter melon syrup can also be added into milk tea to make a new form of winter melon milk tea.
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 1 hour hr
    Cook Time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 3 hours hrs
    Course Drinks
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 2
    Calories 646 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 1500 g winter melon
    • 250 g brown sugar powder
    • 50 g rock sugar

    Winter Melon Tea

    • Clean water
    • Ice cubes
    • lime
    • 3 tbsp. winter melon syrup

    Winter Melon Milk Tea

    • 1 cup boba pearls
    • 1 tbsp. black tea
    • 1.5 cup water
    • 1 cup milk or coconut milk
    • 3 tbsp. winter melon syrup

    Instructions

    • Cut the winter melon into small chunks (There is no need to remove the skins and seeds). 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 .Use high fire to bring everthing to a boiling. Stir from time to time at the first stage to avoid burning. Then slow down the fire and cook for around 40 minutes.
    • Then strain the liquid out. Remember to press the softened winter melon so you can get as much liquid as possible.

    Simple 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 ½ cup of the black tea water. Pour in milk.

    Notes

    For a even sweeter taste, you can adjust the amount of rock sugar.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 646kcalCarbohydrates: 161gProtein: 3gSodium: 40mgPotassium: 166mgSugar: 146gVitamin C: 7.5mgCalcium: 329mgIron: 6.9mg
    Keyword tea, Winter Melon
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

    More vegetables and Mushrooms

    • Shiitake Mushroom Shumai|chinasichuanfood
      Shumai with sticky rice and mushrooms
    • how to cut bok choy|chinasichuanfood.com
      How to Cut Bok Choy
    • braised winter melon with minced pork|chinasichuanfood.com
      Winter Melons - The Guide and Recipes
    • bok choy stir fry|chinasichuanfood.com
      Bok Choy Stir Fry

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KP Kwan

      June 10, 2015 at 3:54 am

      Hi Elaine,

      Thanks for the recipe. That is the favorite item in my family since I was young.

      KP Kwan

      Reply
    2. Marie

      June 17, 2015 at 8:12 am

      Interesting! Never thought of winter melon to make tea. I will definitely give it a try!

      Reply
    3. Mien

      May 20, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      Thank you for the recipe! I left the melon pieces to soak in brown sugar overnight and left out the rock sugar because my family doesn't like sweet drinks. It's chilling in the refrigerator now. Can't wait to drink it. 😀

      Reply
    4. Andreas

      May 20, 2018 at 6:03 am

      Hi Elaine,

      the "brown" sugar you use looks strange to me. It seems to have very small crystals and it looks kind of "wet". I do get brown sugar in two kinds. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet and from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane with the first one being more common here. But they both form rather large crystals. What kind of sugar are you using for this tea?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 26, 2018 at 2:53 pm

        Andreas,
        The sugar I used in this recipe is made from Sugarcane. We call it "甘蔗" in Chinese.

        Reply
    5. Andreas

      July 27, 2019 at 5:48 am

      Hi Elaine,

      I'd really like to try this. But I'm having trouble figuring out how much water to start with and what amount to reduce it to.

      Reply
      • Kim

        September 21, 2019 at 11:54 am

        Andreas, I was a bit confused myself, but from my understanding it does not look like you'd add any water during the boiling process. And that you'd just turn off the heat when the melon becomes transparent.

        The water comes when you are ready to serve it, add 3 times the amount of water to winter melon concentrate in your cup only. Hope, I'm interpreting it correctly!

        Reply
        • Andreas

          October 17, 2019 at 5:28 am

          Thank you Kim,

          yes now when I reread it you're probably right.

          Too bad summer is already gone... I'll try next one.

          Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi Welcome

    Hi welcome to my little corner where I sharing authentic and easy to follow Chinese recipes. Don't be limited by the site name. Know me more from About Page.

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Popular

    • scallion pancakes|chinasichuanfood.com
      Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)
    • mapo tofu|chinasichuanfood.com
      Mapo Tofu Recipe- Ma Po Tofu
    • boba pearls |chinasichuanfood.com
      How to Make Boba Pearls at Home -Tapioca Pearls
    • twice cooked pork belly|chinasichuanfood.com
      Twice Cooked Pork--Szechuan Pork Stir Fry
    • red braised pork belly|chinasichuanfood.com
      Red Braised Pork Belly —Hong Shao Rou
    • pork and mushroom stir fry|chinasichuanfood.com
      Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry

    Find Recipes

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    • Privacy Policy. Disclaimer. About. Hot Pot cookbook

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 ChinaSichuanFood.com | All Rights Reserved