There is nothing more cooling & delicious on a hot day in Chiang Mai than a glass of refreshing “Cha Yen” or Iced Thai Tea as it is Internationally known. The word “Cha” means “Tea” & “Yen” means “cool” in Thai.
Here’s a really simple recipe a local street vendor from one of the Daily Markets passed onto us recently, it takes around 20 minutes or so in total, and the end results are to die for !!.
It also saves the embarrassement of having to go out every few hours for my Thai Tea fix!, I can now make up a batch, and drink it at my leisure throughout the day.
One thing before I go through the recipe to pay attention to is that they use very strong colour dyes for the Tea leaves that give Thai Tea its beautiful burnt-orangey colour.
This also means it stains anything it gets on so be careful with any spillages.
Iced Thai Tea - Serves Twelve Glasses
Equipment: Large pot - for boiling water in Traditional Thai tea sock Fine-grade sieve Heat-resistant pitcher Long handled spoon
Ingredients: 4cups Thai tea leaves or Thai tea mix powder 10cups water 3cups white sugar 6cups evaporated milk (12oz can)
Method: Measure your water in the pitcher first to ensure it will hold the finished tea, transfer from the pitcher into the large pot & bring to the boil. Make sure the pot is large enough as there needs to be enough space above the water to hold the tea leaves/powder.
As the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat and then add the tea leaves to the pot, stirring continuously to moisten them, if they are not moistened fully you will not get the full flavor.
Do not boil the tea, it will make it bitter, just let the tea leaves sit in the hot water,set a timer for 4 minutes, and wait!.
Whilst you are waiting, place the Thai tea sock into the neck of the pitcher & place the fine metal sieve over the top, so that ALL the leaves / powder will be caught, OK.
When the alarm goes off, carefully strain the tea into your heat resistant pitcher through the sieve & tea sock, do this process carefully & slowly, if the sieve clogs up,stop pouring, let the sieve drip for a minute, and then knock the tea leaves out of it into the compost.
When all the tea is in the pitcher, add the sugar,and stir to dissolve. You have to add the sugar when the tea is hot, otherwise you'll never get it to dissolve fully.
Place the pitcher then in the fridge for a few hours to cool it down, this will save for up to a week in the fridge, and does get stronger as it "matures".
I tend to make big batches, and just save the full pitcher in the fridge for serving on demand!.
Serving: To serve the iced thai tea, fill a long glass with ice, and pour the tea over the ice, leaving about 1/4 of the glass empty.
Open the can of evaporated whole milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk), and top the glass up with it. Pour slowly, so that the layers stay distinct. Serve with a straw or long spoon for mixing!
Some people like more milk than others, so you'll have to experiment a little. Likewise, some people like to drink their tea with the layers intact, and others like to mix it up right away.
Thats the fun of the drink! If you serve it with layers intact, then each person decides what they want to do. Personally, I mix it very gently, so that it still has some swirls of milkier and less milky tea, but isn't completely layered.
Iced thai tea - however you take it - ENJOY !!.
Product Offer - Thai Tea Powder & Tea Sock Set
You've seen the video !, carefully followed the recipe!, and now its your chance to buy a set of the Thai Tea Powder & Tea Sock, the vital "core" ingredients of delicious Iced Thai Tea.
The Set Contains: 1x bag of Number One Brand - Thai Tea Mix (200grms/8ozs) 1x traditional Thai Tea Sock 1x copy of the recipe
Cost Price(set): $19.99 delivered to your door from Thailand
Shipping: This item is shipped via Thailand Post Registered Airmail, deliveries take approximately 14-21 days.
