Banana flavored Thai Basil Seed Drink
Thai basil seed drink is a very refreshing beverage that is popular both in Vietnam and in India. It's called hột é in Vietnamese and falooda in India.
The visual aspect of the drink is unusual and not very appealing, but it tastes great. It kind of looks like fish eggs in a pond and tastes like gummy-textured sugar water. I flavored it with banana extract because that's the flavor combination I remember from my visit to Vietnam.
Ingredients
Yields: 12 servings
4 tablespoons honey1/2 cup superfine sugar, to taste
1 Meyer lemon (or regular lemon), freshly squeezed
2 quarts water
4 tablespoons Thai basil seed
2 teaspoons banana extract
3 cups ice cubes, or more
Directions
Place the Thai basil seeds in a pitcher.
In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a near boil. Pour into the pitcher. Let the seeds gain in volume, which will take about 5 minutes.
In the same saucepan, dissolve the sugar with 1 cup of water. Bring to a near boil, then add the honey. Pour the syrup into the pitcher. Add the banana extract, the rest of the cold water and lots of ice cubes.
I served this chilled with some fresh Thai baby basil leaves from my vegetable garden.
Enjoy!
Tips
I bought my Thai basil seeds in an Indian store. I think some Asian stores carry this product as well.
I added banana extract but you can add your own flavor, such as mango extract, cherry extract, rose water, orange blossom water or simply vanilla extract. Be creative!
I prefer using superfine sugar. It's is a fine-grained sugar and it dissolves much more quickly than regular sugar.
Published By: on April 27, 2009.
