You might be wondering, winter melon can be made into a great tasting milk tea too? Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer being, with the right preparation and time taken to make this into a tea, it gives you great reward in flavor and taste.
In Asian culture, winter melon is typically known to be used in savory soup dishes rather than milk tea. With its savory and depth of flavor, it only makes sense that using it for soup is a really good use. Plus the winter melon actually has a lot of health benefits too! Maybe that’s why grandma always made it. (We kind of want some winter melon soup now…)
But! Just because it’s normally used for soup doesn’t mean it can’t be used for a great tasting milk tea, and that’s what we’re here to learn today! Its depth of flavor mixed with a bit of sweetness and creamer creates a very amazing and refreshing milk tea that is very unique compared to the rest. Let’s jump in and learn how to make winter melon milk tea together shall we?
Prep Time
5 Minutes
Cook Time
15 Minutes
Total Time
20 Minutes
Yield
2-4 Servings
Ingredients you'll need
for making
Winter Melon Milk Tea
- Fresh winter melon gourd
- Handful of authentic jasmine tea leaves
- 1/4 cup Creamer (Soy milk works well)
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
How to Make Winter Melon Milk Tea
Step 1
For a disclaimer, this recipe will not call for boba pearls but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them either. We encourage you to try this with boba pearls to see what you think. Learn how to cook tapioca pearls at home if you’re interested.
Okay, now let’s begin. Starting with a pot of water let’s bring it to a boil. While we wait for the water to heat up and eventually come to a boil, we will grab our winter melon, favorite kitchen knife, and reliable cutting board, like this premium bamboo cutting board.
We’ll peel the beautiful winter melon, chop it into 2-inch cubes and seed it. We don’t need those seeds floating around all over the place! Once your water is at a boil, turn down the heat to medium-high heat and place your winter melon into the pot carefully. We will slow boil the winter melon for 10-15 minutes or until they’re really soft. The winter melon should be breakable with a tap of a chopstick or spoon.
We’ll also add 1/4 cup of brown sugar into the pot too. Any brand of regular brown sugar will work just fine for this, we tend to use Domino’s dark brown sugar for this. This will allow the winter melon to infuse with a bit of robust sweetness, perfect for a milk tea.
After you believe that your winter melon is soft enough and has boiled long enough to extract its flavors, strain the contents of the pot so that you separate the winter melon flesh and the liquids. We’ll be utilizing the winter melon liquid or tea for our milk tea.
Step 2
While we are waiting for the winter melon to be cooked thoroughly we can also start boiling another pot of water or using an electric kettle to steep our authentic jasmine tea.
If you’re boiling a pot of water, bring it to a rumbling boil then dial back the heat to medium and place your jasmine tea leaves into the pot carefully. Allow the tea to steep for 6-8 minutes. Using the timer app on your phone works well for this. Or simply ask Alexa to put a timer on for you.
If you chose to use an electric kettle to boil water quicker, the same time still remains. Allow your authentic jasmine tea leaves to steep for 6-8 minutes with the hot water.
Step 3
Now that you have everything completed in terms of boiling, all we have to do now is put everything together. Be sure that everything is at room temperature and have ice handy if you want to make this a cold drink. Otherwise, hot winter melon milk tea works just as delicious too!
Let’s start putting everything together starting with the creamer. Add 1/4 cup of creamer (we usually like using soy milk for this) into your most loved teacup. Next, we’ll add 1/2 cup of jasmine tea we freshly brewed and steeped. And finally, add 1/3 cup of strained winter melon tea that we had boiled up. (You may add ice as we mentioned earlier for a refreshing cold drink. We know, sometimes those HOT summer days can be unbearable).
Mix it all up with a great stir and of course, the best part, enjoy! You might be saying “that was it?” Yep! It’s very simple and doesn’t take much time at all. If you gave this recipe a go please let us know how you like it, we’re interested in having people try this out. Thanks for making winter melon milk tea with us, until next time!
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