🙋🏻♀️ Will the real Thai tea please stand up?
You've probably never had real Thai tea!
Sawaddee Ka! 🙏🏼
When I started working in Thai restaurants in the US, I noticed that many dishes are made differently from the way they’re done in Thailand. This is to be expected, of course, because many ingredients are unavailable, or restaurants try to adjust the flavours to the Western palate.
But there was one thing that was also made differently - Thai iced tea - but for neither of the above reasons.
In the most recent video I went deep into Thai iced tea and talked about:
What is Thai tea, exactly?
How to make real Thai tea VS. American style Thai tea.
How to make a hacked version of Thai tea without any Thai tea leaves.
After you see the difference between the two Thai teas, here are a couple of my own theories as to why Thai restaurants in N. America do it differently. One, it’s easier and faster. Two, the resulting colour contrast is more dramatic and looks cooler (See video thumbnail). Three, it’s cheaper.
Now, I’m not at all saying that the restaurant version is bad. It is not. In fact it might even be preferred by some. But after a side by side taste test, which you can see in the video, I do prefer the Thai style.
If you’re a Thai tea fan, try it out both ways and see which one you prefer. Here are the recipes for both!
*Obviously not all Thai restaurants in N. America make it this way, but most do, in my experience.
i thought i was about to learn today that thai tea is not orange - because i’m a born and bred rhode islander who has lived in the boston area for the past twenty years or so and i have never seen or heard of the “american thai tea” on the left in that picture. if i ordered thai tea and received black tea (with half n half??) i would (politely!) send it back and get a glass of water instead.
but MA/RI is a place that takes its cold creamy drinks seriously tho (land of large iced regulars and coffee milk, respectively 😄) so perhaps that has something to do with it haha. anyway, thank you as always for your product recs and enlightening posts!! now i can try to make my own at home.