Sinh To Bo (Vietnamese avocado smoothie)

Enough for 2 small shakes

Luxuriously rich and creamy, sweet avocado shakes are a favorite Vietnamese dessert or mid-afternoon snack. Avocados, known as “butter fruit” in Vietnam, are used as a dessert ingredient throughout southeast Asia. The Indonesian version of the avocado shake, es apokat, adds coffee or chocolate syrup. Brazilians enjoy creme de abacate. These smoothies may pack a lot of calories, but the fat in avocados is the kind that’s good for you. So don’t feel so guilty -- indulge!

ingredients

Ripe avocado -- 1
Ice cubes -- 1 cup
Milk -- 1/2 cup
Sweetened, condensed milk -- 1/3 cup

directions

Preparation

1
Scoop the avocado flesh from its shell and remove the seed.
2
Add the avocado flesh, ice cubes, sweetened, condensed milk and half of the regular milk to a blender. Process until smooth. Add more milk if needed to get the consistency you like.
3
Serve in tall glasses with a spoon or straw.

Variations

1
Es Apokat (Indonesia): Substitute strong coffee for the milk. For another version, make the shake as above, but drip about 1/4 cup chocolate syrup around the edges of a tall glass before pouring in the shake. Very pretty!
2
Creme de Abacate (Brazil): follow the recipe above, but add a squeeze of lime juice.
3
Lower Fat (slightly) Version: Use 3 tablespoons of sugar instead of sweetened, condensed milk to sweeten the shake. Brown sugar or palm sugar are excellent choices. And choose nonfat or lowfat milk.

Source: Whats4Eats - Brad Harvey