Every time I'm with my dad, he feeds cravings into my system that don't go away until I have it. A couple of weeks ago, after we had our bi-weekly dinner and chat over life, career, food, and love - the usual, he injected a food bubble into my head: Thai Iced Tea. Because of it's reddish color, my dad used to think it was just red tea. After some research online and with the help of my friend who's family owns a Thai restaurant in Long Island, I was on the search for Thai tea leaves to make this mysteriously sweet and creamy tasting tea.
I'm usually in Chinatown about a handful of times a year at most- when I picture this chaotic pocket in NY, I have mind battles . I think of the slow walking crowds, spit on my shoes (god forbid I wear open toe heels), people huffing and puffing in my nose, the disgusting site of old men digging up their hairy noses with long pinky nails, fish heads stacked up on the side of Mott St, and stepping in puddles of muddy seafood waste streaming across sidewalks. Then I think, but I really need to get something from there. I sucked it up, took a big GULP and decided to run errands in Chinatown.
All the times I've been in Chinatown since childhood, I've never noticed this store Bangkok Center Grocery. It's situated on that scary, narrow and steep street right between Mulberry and Mott called Mosco St near Columbus Park where all the grannies play chess and mahjong. Sometimes you can smell a whiff of hot oil passing by. Every time I use that street to cross over without going around, I'm usually oblivious to all of my surrounding in hopes that I will cross it fast enough to get from one end to the other without taking a breath to avoid smelling something gross.
I went into this tiny store, thinking that it was Chinese made Thai products. Whenever I buy products that advertise that they're from a certain region, I usually check the label to make sure that it's imported from there and not bootleg. The Thai tea powder was hidden in the back in a box under a shelf bursting with other mysterious products (what a way to sell your products!). I looked closer at the package to make sure it wasn't a 3-in-1 convenient kind of powder like you get in boxes and just mix with water. I'm not into instant anything except for Korean instant noodles. The tea powder looked like grinded tea leaves with mixed spices, the way I read it should be. For $5, I purchased a 13 oz package of authentic Thai tea and a tea sock to filter it.
The Process..
I brewed my tea in the tea sock for about 30 minutes only because I liked poking my chopstick in the soft tea sock to extract more tea from it. I made a large batch and kept it in an enclosed pitcher and refrigerated it.
The first glass I made, I poured the tea into a glass over ice, put sweetened condensed milk in and poured evaporated milk over the top. I couldn't click my camera fast enough, even though I had my "minature studio" set up to the exact position. The condensed milk immediately sunk to the bottom and made a horrible picture. I drank that huge glass (probably about 30 oz) because it was still tasty, just not pretty, and started over.
The second time, I sweetened the tea first with condensed milk and stirred it before I poured it into the glass then poured evaporated milk over the top so it would have that pretty milk swirl half way down which is what is pictured here. It was super creamy and thirst quenching.
By the time I was photographing, besides the fact that I was going to the bathroom every five seconds, I was wired! - and there was no way I was going to drink that too just to have another photo session. If I allowed myself to have a third try, this is what I would have done: To make a huge color contrast and a stronger tea flavor, I probably wouldn't mix sweetened condensed milk into it. I would just sweeten it with regular sugar (as I was told by my friend who makes this daily for the restaurant) and just add evaporated milk over the top.
Easy enough huh?
Tonight, Thai tea ice cream will be on it's way!
The proportions of this recipe from Epicurious seems to be pretty much the way I eyed it.
Thai Iced Tea
I'm usually in Chinatown about a handful of times a year at most- when I picture this chaotic pocket in NY, I have mind battles . I think of the slow walking crowds, spit on my shoes (god forbid I wear open toe heels), people huffing and puffing in my nose, the disgusting site of old men digging up their hairy noses with long pinky nails, fish heads stacked up on the side of Mott St, and stepping in puddles of muddy seafood waste streaming across sidewalks. Then I think, but I really need to get something from there. I sucked it up, took a big GULP and decided to run errands in Chinatown.
All the times I've been in Chinatown since childhood, I've never noticed this store Bangkok Center Grocery. It's situated on that scary, narrow and steep street right between Mulberry and Mott called Mosco St near Columbus Park where all the grannies play chess and mahjong. Sometimes you can smell a whiff of hot oil passing by. Every time I use that street to cross over without going around, I'm usually oblivious to all of my surrounding in hopes that I will cross it fast enough to get from one end to the other without taking a breath to avoid smelling something gross.
I went into this tiny store, thinking that it was Chinese made Thai products. Whenever I buy products that advertise that they're from a certain region, I usually check the label to make sure that it's imported from there and not bootleg. The Thai tea powder was hidden in the back in a box under a shelf bursting with other mysterious products (what a way to sell your products!). I looked closer at the package to make sure it wasn't a 3-in-1 convenient kind of powder like you get in boxes and just mix with water. I'm not into instant anything except for Korean instant noodles. The tea powder looked like grinded tea leaves with mixed spices, the way I read it should be. For $5, I purchased a 13 oz package of authentic Thai tea and a tea sock to filter it.
The Process..
I brewed my tea in the tea sock for about 30 minutes only because I liked poking my chopstick in the soft tea sock to extract more tea from it. I made a large batch and kept it in an enclosed pitcher and refrigerated it.
The first glass I made, I poured the tea into a glass over ice, put sweetened condensed milk in and poured evaporated milk over the top. I couldn't click my camera fast enough, even though I had my "minature studio" set up to the exact position. The condensed milk immediately sunk to the bottom and made a horrible picture. I drank that huge glass (probably about 30 oz) because it was still tasty, just not pretty, and started over.
The second time, I sweetened the tea first with condensed milk and stirred it before I poured it into the glass then poured evaporated milk over the top so it would have that pretty milk swirl half way down which is what is pictured here. It was super creamy and thirst quenching.
By the time I was photographing, besides the fact that I was going to the bathroom every five seconds, I was wired! - and there was no way I was going to drink that too just to have another photo session. If I allowed myself to have a third try, this is what I would have done: To make a huge color contrast and a stronger tea flavor, I probably wouldn't mix sweetened condensed milk into it. I would just sweeten it with regular sugar (as I was told by my friend who makes this daily for the restaurant) and just add evaporated milk over the top.
Easy enough huh?
Tonight, Thai tea ice cream will be on it's way!
The proportions of this recipe from Epicurious seems to be pretty much the way I eyed it.
Thai Iced Tea
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Thai tea
3 cup water
14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup Evaporated milk or half-and-half
3 cup water
14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup Evaporated milk or half-and-half
Directions:
Place the tea in a bag of muslin or other fine cloth. Bring the water to a rapid boil, pour it over the tea, and let it steep for 3 min. Pour the liquid back through the tea 5 or 6 times until it is a deep orange color and is flavored strongly.
Strain the tea well, pressing out all the liquid that you can. Add the sweetened condensed milk to the warm liquid and mix it well. Allow the mixture to cool to room temp. Just before serving, fill each glass with cracked ice and fill it half to three quarters full of tea. Add evaporated milk or half-and-half to fill the glass, and stir well.
Variation: If you prefer a darker colored and stronger flavored tea, substitute 3/4 cup granulated sugar for the sweetened condensed milk.
Bangkok Center Grocery
Click here to visit their website and their sister online store
104 Mosco Street
(between Mott and Mulberry St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 732-8916
Strain the tea well, pressing out all the liquid that you can. Add the sweetened condensed milk to the warm liquid and mix it well. Allow the mixture to cool to room temp. Just before serving, fill each glass with cracked ice and fill it half to three quarters full of tea. Add evaporated milk or half-and-half to fill the glass, and stir well.
Variation: If you prefer a darker colored and stronger flavored tea, substitute 3/4 cup granulated sugar for the sweetened condensed milk.
Bangkok Center Grocery
Click here to visit their website and their sister online store
104 Mosco Street
(between Mott and Mulberry St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 732-8916
16 comments:
yay for authentic thai tea! my in-laws (who are thai) make a huge batch now and again using their own mixture of leaves and spices (no idea what exactly is in it besides tea leaves), and it can't be beat.
love the word picture you painted of NYC chinatown. it actually makes me kind of miss it.
From what I searched, it seems to have star anise, cloves, cinnamon and sometimes citrus/florals.
I am going to look for some Thai tea leaves for this drink.
Your Thai iced tea looks original. :)
delicious! i just followed your link to the online thai store and ordered the thai tea (amongst other random things). can't wait to try this at home.
oh - i agree with dapotato - love your depiction of nyc chinatown!
haha i saw this picture on tastespotting and knew it was you! i reconize that little straw mat. i saw it on sunday.
This picture makes me thirsty! it's crazy that I can feel the creaminess and taste the sweet tea just by looking at your picture!
That looks so good! Great photo! I will have to see if I can find some Thai tea to try this.
I love chai tea! I make it almost every morning!
Pure awesomeness. Makes me wish I were still in Bangkok ;-)
I loved the Bangkok Center Grocery when I lived in NYC! I used to get all my lemongrass there...oddly enough, Beijing is closer to Thailand in geography, but now I can't find half the Thai ingredients that were available in NYC.
The tea looks great. I'll definitely try it once I find Thai tea. Do you know of any Chinese teas that would be okay substitutes?
Appetite For China - I've never made Thai tea from scratch, but I came across this website where they have a recipe from scratch using Chinese black tea leaves. If you ever try it, let me know how it turns out and if there is a difference! http://www.blueray.com/thaitea/recipes.html
Love love love Thai tea..best tea in the world, hot or cold! But I'm biased cuz I grew up drinking it.
Was playing around with the idea of making TT ice cream. I'm intrigued by your version using condensed milk. Will definitely have to give it a try.
Since you are a fan of TT, may I point you to TT creme brulee. Super easy and delicious.
Very nice, very nice!
30 minutes of brewing? That doesn't make for some wickedly bitter tea?
KyotoFoodieのPeko
Yummmy iced tea. Whenever my grandma makes Thai iced tea for our house guest, I just grabbed a glass. Your iced tea is look so good. Can I have a sip?
i like thai ice tea
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