Tropical Quenchers: Dragonfruit & Pomelo Sensations

Aaaah... sometimes the heat outside and humidity gets to me! The sun decides to bless us with its golden rays for most of the day, then just before it disappears into the horizon, Mother Storm pays a visit and it starts to rain bloody murder... Gee, thanks. There goes my late afternoon run. The race is this weekend, and I'm starting to fret from this lack of, well, running.

When I'm in this mood (fretting, feeling caged in), I can't think creatively to make a meal I want to feed myself with, let alone others. So I go on a juice diet - juices are easy, there's not much thinking involved. Plus they are fun and delicious to consume - more importantly, they really quench that thirst on a HOT day. Luckily, I live where I live. Plenty of juicy, sweet, weird and wonderful fruits to turn into cocktails or coolers. You can go colourful (mango, watermelon, banana, jackfruit) or not (coconut, pomelo, lychees, longans).

Walked into the kitchen and found these two juicy queen of fruits - the regal red Dragonfruit, and the cool, collected Pomelo. Perfect, I'll make TWO contrasting drinks!

There are actually three varieties of dragonfruit: red-skinned with translucent white or red purply-red flesh, and yellow-skinned with white flesh. No surprise, I went with my favourite colour - red (flesh). If you've never had dragonfruit before, it's been described as tasting something like a cross between a kiwi fruit and a pear. In actual fact, it's much subtler than that. I would say that it tastes like a very watered-down version of a watermelon - quite bland. Which is an irony because visually, the dragonfruit is one of the most stunning-looking fruits I've ever come across. Unfortunately, The Big Kahuna created it to be this gorgeous bimbo of the fruit community, just to be fair to other fruits, I think. Haha, the thought.

That's the reason why I added raspberries to the quencher recipe below, to add a bit of sensuality (tastewise) to it. Let's face it, the raspberry could've had it all (red, curvy, sweet, tangy, delicious), but it too was created fairly. Why do you think it's so tiny? *grins*  

Dragonfruit~Raspberry Quencher

1 red dragonfruit, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries 

2-3 cups water

sugar syrup, to taste (optional)

calamansi limes, to garnish

Blend the dragonfruit slices together with the raspberries, then add 2 cups water and some sugar syrup (optional) and stir. If the consistency is a bit thick for you, then add some more water. If you want it cooler, blend in some ice-cubes. Pour into a glass, slice some calamansi limes and place on top of the drink. Sip or stick a straw in the glass and enjoy! 

The next drink is pretty elegant and straightforward, no blending necessary. Just add ice, and carry around at a late afternoon pool party for that rock star factor!

Pomelo-Vanilla Green Tea Cooler

1/2 medium sized pomelo, skinned and sliced

2 teabags of vanilla green tea

4-6 cups water

sugar syrup, to taste (optional)

Steep the teabags in 2 cups of hot water for about 5 minutes, allow to cool, then add up to 4 cups of cold water and ice-cubes. Take the sliced pomelo, tear the flesh apart with your hands and add to the cold vanilla tea. Add sugar syrup if you wish, it will enhance the aromatic vanilla and balance the slightly bitter, grapefruitlike pomelo flavors. Serve to guests and be prepared to take a bow!