One of the world’s great mysteries is that durian grows in the tropics where it’s always too hot, and yet it is the best winter warm-up food.
Heatiness comes in handy when the weather forecast has been hovering between freezing rain and WINTER STORM WARNING all week. A spiced durian nog was just the thing to warm up, reminisce, and get in the family Christmas spirit. This recipe comes from my friend Chris Kendall with a thumbs up from my Mom.
Let me be truthful: I have never tasted true eggnog, the kind that has real, actual raw eggs whipped into it to make it extra creamy. Since before I can remember, my family has had a salmonella phobia that banned the licking of brownie batter, real eggnog, and other of life’s pleasantries.
What saves other families, according to PopScience, is that true eggnog also includes a shot of alcohol, which kills the bacteria and also left my dad offering other excuses, since he always makes his ‘nog “extra spicy” and we always purchased eggnog in a pasteurized carton.
There’s a red be-snowflaked carton sitting in our refrigerator right now. Oh home, some things never change.
The upside of being vegan is that I no longer have to worry about salmonella. But when it comes to making a legit holiday ‘nog, there aren’t many perfect substitutes to give the foamy drink it’s slightly musty, egg-sweet flavor.
Enter durian. Intrinsically sweet, fatty, milky, and with that weird, savory egg-funk. It’s perfect.
Now that I think about it, eggnog may actually be the closest flavor we Westerners have to durian. Perhaps when introducing wary friends to durian, I should just tell them “It tastes like eggnog!” and then they’ll get it.
I got this recipe idea from the Banana Commander Chris Kendall, who shared it in his Retreat Treats E-book that is available FOR FREE on his website.
His recipe is made to share (or if you’re a raw vegan, eat for lunch). It’s low-fat and made entirely out of fruit, so is a healthy spin on a traditionally calorie-heavy beverage. Christmas is all about being both naughty and nice, right?
I wanted a little bit higher ratio of durian-to-banana, so I tweaked the recipe to fit a durian-lover’s cup for one.
I also put in 1 teaspoon of rum, which was just enough to give the beverage the adult flavor I remembered, but little enough that I think mixing alcohol with durian should be fine (update: 5 hours later and I’m still alive. Whew). Why mixing alcohol and durian is either a great or really terrible idea…
bananas, durian, almond mylk, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum and love
Ingredients
- 2 bananas
- 1 cup durian flesh
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp rum (serving size optional)
You will need a blender.
Directions
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