Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Es Apokat--Avocado "Shake"

Although I believe it is technically a fruit, I've always considered avocado a vegetable. It's wonderful in sandwiches, quesadillas, omelets, and, of course, guacamole. I was surprised, therefore, when my Indonesian friends were shocked, and even a little revolted, when I told them about guacamole. Avocados with salt, onions,tomatoes and cilantro? Ewww, gross! I later witnessed pretty much the same reaction in Vietnam.

Huh??? How do you eat avocado?

With sugar. And coffee. Oh, and that's appetizing, right? Actually, once you can rid yourself of your cultural biases, yes, it is. Delicious, in fact. A coffee shake for vegans who still long for milk and ice cream. Or anyone else who likes coffee shakes.

Although my wife does not like coffee or milk shakes, she loves es apokat. Whenever there's a little extra coffee in the house and a ripe avocado, she makes this. I followed her method of making it, which is a more rustic preparation than the smoothie style you'll find in most restaurants nowadays in Indonesia. Instead of using a blender, simply mash an avocado, stir in a couple tablespoons of strong coffee sweetened with sugar almost to the point of being a coffee flavored simple syrup, and then stir in crushed ice. Of course, for those who prefer, you could simply put everything into a blender and puree.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

7 comments:

  1. we've seen it with chocolate syrup, but coffee is a first...seems really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I don't know if the chocolate variation came in response to tourists in Bali, but at traditional warungs in Java coffee seems to be the flavoring of choice. It may be because it's relatively easy (and inexpensive) to keep coffee on hand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've had sweet avocado milkshake-type desserts before...I definitely need to try this though. I love how sweet the coffee is in that region of the world, so I'll trust that avocado goes well with it :) thanks for sharing this unique treat!

    ReplyDelete
  4. definitely, I miss chocolate sweetened condensed milk that is used to mix jus alpukat. Can't find it here in Canada. Substitute for chocolate syrup sometimes

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've been instructed by my wife that you should first mix the sugar with the avocado. Doing so apparently preserves the bright green of the avocado.

    I must confess that I prefer my coffee black, no sugar, and my avocado with tortilla chips or in a fish taco.

    Pepy, I can't say I've come across chocolate sweetened condensed milk here, in the States, either, but I haven't really been looking for it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. beautiful.

    i like this site.
    thank you.

    ReplyDelete

If you have any questions you would like me to answer, please e-mail me. Otherwise, please check back on the post where you commented for any updates.