One of the things that I found very surprising when I studied and lived in the US, and Canada is how people there enjoy avocado as a savory dish as opposed to Indonesians who associate avocado as a “dessert” or snack on the sweeter spectrum. At first, I was skeptical about eating avocado with an egg and toast and, moreover, bacon bits?? This is just not something that I would ever have done growing up. And, of course, vice versa, eating avocado as a dessert (e.g., avocado with chocolate syrup) is a weird and big NO NO for some people. However, today, I actually like avocado both ways. I love to eat it as a savory dip with a warm, crunchy toast and egg. I (many times) also still crave how my mom used to make me an avocado dessert back home in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, there are many popular desserts made by using avocado as the star ingredient. Two of the most popular and basic ones are jus alpukat (avocado shakes commonly mixed with sweet condensed milk and chocolate syrup) and es alpukat susu (shaved avocado flesh mixed with other fruits such as jackfruit, young coconut flesh, basil seed (sometimes) nata de coco, condensed milk, sugar syrup, and whole milk or chocolate milk). The toppings and combinations in es alpukat susu can be adjusted based on individuals’ preferences, especially nowadays variations of es alpukat susu in Indonesia are endless—some of them add chocolate sprinkle, coco pandan syrup, jackfruit and pandan syrup, coffee, and even the king of all fruits, DURIAN.
Living far away from home, I still crave (many times) my comforting homemade food, desserts, and snacks. So, I thought it may be a good idea to remake one of my Indonesian favorite desserts in Vancouver City, which has slowly become my home away from home. In this article, I would like to share “my way” or “my family way” of enjoying es alpukat susu. The recipe (I don’t even know if we can call this a recipe, though; honestly, it is just so simple…. 😊) is straightforward, easy, and quick to follow. Moreover, you can easily find the ingredients in Asian grocery stores, such as T&T Supermarket, if you are living in the Vancouver area.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 Avocados (Ripe and soft)
- 150 ml of whole milk
- 4-5 tbsp of Condensed Milk (you can adjust your sweetness level according to your preference)
- 1-2 tbsp of young coconut flesh
- 1-2 tbsp jackfruit (ripe and cut into a small chunk)
- 2 tbsp grass jelly
- Ice Cubes
- 50 ml Sugar Syrup (Optional)
Instructions (Total Time : 7 minutes)
- Prepare all the ingredients.
- Halved the avocado and carefully remove the pit. Shave the avocado flesh from the skin.
- Cut large pieces of fruit (jackfruit, coconut) into smaller chunks or strips according to your preference.
- Mix the shaved avocado, jackfruit, coconut, grass jelly, and ice cube into an empty bowl.
- Pour 4-5 tbsp of condensed milk and sugar syrup (optional) into the bowl—In Indonesia, es alpukat susu is usually served with a lot of condensed milk. Sometimes, people refuse to add dairy milk and let the melted ice cube dilute the condensed milk to give a sweeter and creamy taste)
- Pour 150 ml of whole milk into the mixture and mix until uniform. Enjoy!
Isn’t that easy? 🙂 I hope you enjoy this quick, easy, refreshing avocado dessert as much as I do! Please do let me know if you manage to try this making this dessert at home! See you in the next blog.