Blended Summer Drinks, The Chi-Chi or its cousin the Pina Colada

Cocktails with Colleen

The blended drink is the easiest of the cocktails.  Technically it doesn't qualify as a cocktail, but as we live in the current trend of pre-mixed drinks, many might find this as elaborate as making a cocktail.

Because you are blending your ingredients, into a larger batch you have more extras than you do concentrated alcohol.

Therefore you can be loose with your measurements, as it really is just about the ratio. How much of a ratio runs to your own taste.

Zok is not a real fan of Coconut Milk in drinks, so I tend to use just enough for a creamy texture.

The trick in getting your blended drink to be like one you get when you are dining out, is to use crushed ice, which when blended will be really fine and thick and the drink can be drunk slowly without its parts separating.

Chi-Chi is when you use Vodka.

Pina-Colada is when you use Rum.

Vodka of course has a milder taste than Rum.

You would use a lot of ice, and about 2 parts fruit to one part Coconut milk.

Alcohol as desired.

I tend to put in one shot per drink.  You can always mix in a bit of alcohol straight to the bottom or top of the poured drink if someone prefers that strength.

Pineapple is juicy enough that you don't need to add in anything extra, but you could add in pineapple juice to sweeten or in a pinch if you don't have enough fruit. (Orange juice is an okay substitute but that will change the taste a bit)

Sometimes I add in mango which is a nice complementary taste.

 

 

Pineapple with Cashews and Fried Tofu or Chicken

Zok and I first had this dish on vacation in Phuket.

When Zok first made this, he always hollowed out the pineapple to use it as the dish, however we don't do that generally anymore.

It is easier to just chop up all of the excess ingredients for the compost (feed the worms!) all that once.

Oddly of course this for us is a Christmas time dish as pineapple comes in season, and we make Chi-chis to drink while trimming the tree.

As this is basically a stir-fry, the cooking time is only about 10 minutes.

Sometimes we have just Tofu, or if there are meat eaters around that feel tofu isn't enough, Zok cooks up some chicken in the small wok, to add it in.

This is technically for four people-of course if you are a couple (as in two) you can just estimate how much you want to eat.

Prepare your rice in a rice cooker (if you don't have a rice cooker, you need a rice cooker)

Fry your tofu in small squares/and set aside with your other prep.

*Remember that stir fry is ALL about the prep.  cut and tidy all your ingredients ready to all be at hand and ready to put into the wok quickly.

1/2 cup of raw cashews

2 tbl. oil (Zok uses peanut for this dish)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large onion, cut in large chunks (or small, sneaky chunks if someone like me is eating and doesn't want to actually see any onion)

2 tsp. chopped red chillies (omit this for a less spicy dish)

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

1/2 green capsicum, chopped (Zok uses 2 full small ones, I just put the capsicum I don't want to eat back onto his plate when he isn't looking)

2 tbls oyster sauce

1 tsp fish sauce (you can switch out these for vegetarian sauces if you have a strict veg/vegan around)

1 tsp. palm sugar (or brown)

2 cups chopped fresh pineapple (it needs to be fresh the canned is already so soft it will deteriorate when it is being stir-fried)

2 spring onions chopped

2 tbls shredded coconut toasted (as a fancy garnish)

Roast the cashews on an oven tray for about 15 min. at 180 c or 350 f until golden (or cheat and just use already roasted ones)

Heat oil in your wok and first stir fry your garlic, onion and chillies over medium heat for 2 minutes 

Increase heat to high and then stir-fry your capsicum, when they are just about done, add in your sauces, sugar, pineapple and tofu and thoroughly toss for about 2-3 minutes coating everything evenly.

Add your cashews and quickly toss-

Have your assistant scoop out the already cooked rice and add your stir fry over the top

Garnish with spring onion and coconut as desired

If you are adding in chicken- add it pre-cooked after you have dished out the tofu-version to your vegetarian friends.

Tips!

Why not make a nice blended Pina Colada or Chi-Chi with your extra pineapple?

Oil-clean cans are commonly found at Asian markets, so you can clean and store you oil to use more than once.