One of the things I like best about Vietnam is the café culture. And by café, I mean any collection of plastic stools on the sidewalk, set up by an entrepreneurial local who mixes drinks for her neighbors. At any time of the day, along the streets of Saigon, Hanoi, Hoi An, etc., the Vietnamese just crouch around wobbly pastel tables and sip their drink of choice. Whether it’s cafe sua da, sugarcane juice, aloe vera shake, or passionfruit juice, the icy beverages are practically lifesavers in a sweltering climate.
If a fruit grows in abundance in Vietnam, you can be sure it is pulsed into a shake. And avocados are everywhere. I grew up associating avocados with salty foods: mashed into guacamole, fanned on chicken sandwiches, sprinkled with sea salt and eaten straight. So a sweet shake was something of a novelty.
But it makes sense. Because avocado flesh is naturally neither sweet nor salty, it’s a tabula rasa for any creamy concoction you want to make.
Since the shake comes out rather thick, and contains both avocados and sweetened condensed milk (not exactly diet foods), I consider it more of a dessert than a light drink. But you can always thin it out with a little more milk and crushed ice.
According to writer Andrea Nguyen, Indonesians add Hershey’s syrup to their avocado shakes. That’s fatty delight on top of fatty delight, though I’m curious if chocolate overwhelms the avocado.
______________________________
Vietnamese Avocado Shake
Makes 1 large drink, or 2 to 4 mini drinks
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 1 cup ice cubes or crush ice
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup milk or unsweetened coconut milk
- Scoop the avocado flesh into the blender and add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse, then blend until smooth. If needed, adjust the sweetness with more condensed milk or sugar, and adjust the thickness with more milk/coconut milk. Pour into a glass and serve cold.
I love avocado shakes. In California we use the Hass avocado when they’re in season (no idea what variety of avocado is available here in Kuching). But instead of condensed milk and coconut milk (which sound great, btw) we just use vanilla ice cream.
I first had avocado shakes while visiting Taiwan and I instantly fell in love. Thanks for sharing how to make it!
In Indonesia, Avocado shake is everywhere, almost staple in any restaurants….and we make it into shake either with chocolate condensed milk (try Hershey’s chocolate syrup, it works too) with ice or espresso coffee shots with honey …delis!
This reminds me of the most delicious avocado ice cream I’ve ever had (from Coobah). I think I’d like this!
I love avocado shakes. I always get them at Vietnamese restaurants. The recipe looks so easy, I’m going to try to make my own.
I first tried an avocado shake at a Vietnamese restaurant in California. I was skeptical, but immediately fell in love. When we traveled to Hanoi, I drank quite a few (when I needed a break from all the cafe sua da!) and it will always bring back memories of that great trip!
Hi,
I was very surprise to find out that avocado shake is so popular in Asia! I grew up drinking avocado shake in Brazil and thought was the only country using avocado to do sweet things! :) Our recipe there is much simpler: just blend avocado, milk and a bit of sugar, by taste. Obviously I need to try this version!
Thanks for sharing!
Cate – My boyfriend was skeptical at first too, but then realized how great avocado tastes with a boatload of sugar. :) Enjoy the recipe!
Avocado with just milk and sugar seems great too. :)
That shake looks nice and cool and creamy and good!
Man! this is awesome! I’ve never made desserts before, but I’ll definitely give this a try! your blog is awesome! adding it to my RSS reader, will be back again! keep up the good work yo! :)
my indonesian friend always make avocado milkshake with crushed ice and condensed milk, plus a drizzle of any choc sauce to add a depth of flavour to this wonderful cooling milkshake. if it’s too thick, just add milk or water, to taste!
Avocados are plenty in Asia! And avocados are good dessert! Especially with milk and sugar and some cream, then chill it overnight! Perfect!!!
Avocados are plenty in Asia! And avocados are good dessert! Especially with milk and sugar and some cream, then chill it overnight! Perfect!!!
Will try this concoction when I get my hands on some avocado. Thanks for sharing. I was waiting for this recipe to drop on my lap. hehehe…
Sweet is also the way avocados are eaten here in Brazil. Only recently Guacamole has spread reasonably for Brazilians not to quiver in disgust when talking about mixing avocados with tomatos, onions and chilies.
There’s a great Vietnamese restaurant near me…I’ll have to check to see what sort of shakes they have. I’ve only had their coffee. But I’m not sure if I will try avocado–I’m not a fan of it in any form.
There’s a great Vietnamese restaurant near me…I’ll have to check to see what sort of shakes they have. I’ve only had their coffee. But I’m not sure if I will try avocado–I’m not a fan of it in any form.
I love the combination and most of all the color. I wish I could try on of these shakes..
This seems like the site that would be the best place to ask – my ayi tells me her favourite food is “Jia xin bing gan” – she wrote it down for me at my request because I was planning to buy it for her at some point. Unfortunately all attempts to ‘google’ any part of it are not helpful – although perhaps the ‘bing gan’ is some kind of cookie?
Any clues? Better still, where would I get this? (I am in Beijing – lucky me – so much delicious food!)
You’re right, that would refer to some sort of cookie or biscuit. But without the characters I couldn’t tell you what jia xin would be. As in "fresh homemade", maybe?
simply add a pinch of instant coffee, or melt it first with 2 spoons of water. yummo too!
A friend of mine is traveling to Hanoi in a few weeks and I’d like to recommend the best place to stop for an avocado shake. Any suggestions?
I also make sweet shakes from Avocado, I use one whole avocado put in mixer and add about 3/4 of Ltr. Soja milk or rice milk, some Rosewater essence and some Kardamom, mix everything till creamy.
This tastes sooooo wonderful, you forget about calories, till you are finished. But you know you did something good for your body as well as for your tastebuds.