Advertisement
Beverages
Appears in
By Robert Danhi
Published 2008
As in the West, Southeast Asians consume beverages before, during, and after mealtimes. But they traditionally drink less while they’re eating than we do. Drinks are seldom carefully matched with the food, and some of them can actually spoil an otherwise great meal. A cloyingly sweet soda would spoil the flavor of a delicate chicken broth noodle dish. For this reason, soup sometimes serves as the beverage during the repast. A brothy soup is sipped along with other dishes.
Southeast Asian climates are hot, and cool drinks of many types can be found for sale at nearly every street corner. Long, slender stalks of sugarcane are stripped of their tough and off-flavored outer husks, then fed through rollers that compress the stalks and expel a sweet, greenish juice. Poured over ice it’s refreshing and not as sweet as you might expect—some like a squeeze of lime added. Fruit stands often sell freshly peeled and cut fruits—carrots, pineapple, oranges, honeydew, watermelon, or even sour sop fruit—and offer juicing services. Try blending orange and carrot juices for one of my favorite vegetable/fruit combinations.