2 oz Purple flavored Ice Cream
1 oz Popov Vodka
1 oz Jaegermeister
+ any other 4 nasty liquors
Blend or shake then pour into your favorite glass. Hate.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Forum Blue
2 mini scoops Ube ice cream
1 oz VuQo Premium Vodka
½ oz Triple Sec
½ oz Chambord
1 oz Orange juice
splash of Pineapple Juice
Shake or blend into a pimp cup, then taste the championship flavor. Best repeated 16 more times- and counting. This is the consummate Los Angeles Lakers cocktail.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
1 oz VuQo Premium Vodka
½ oz Triple Sec
½ oz Chambord
1 oz Orange juice
splash of Pineapple Juice
Shake or blend into a pimp cup, then taste the championship flavor. Best repeated 16 more times- and counting. This is the consummate Los Angeles Lakers cocktail.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Halo-Halo Shot and/or Cocktail
Halo-Halo Shot and/or Cocktail
1 scoop of Ube ice cream
1 oz VuQo Premium Vodka
1 oz Malibu Rum
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz Barcardi Superior Original
½ oz Chambord
½ part Grenadine
2 parts of cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice
Shake and pour into shot glasses (makes hella) or good for 2 cocktail glasses.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
The Jeepney
The Jeepney
1 scoop Ube ice cream
1 oz VuQo Premium Vodka
1 oz Malibu Rum
1 oz Bacardi Rum
Blend and serve in a cocktail glass.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Dream Jungle
Dream Jungle
2 scoops Ube ice cream
1 oz VuQo Premium Vodka
Blend and serve in a tropical glass or mug. Macapuno reinvented for grown ups.
If VuQo isn’t used, it’s not a Dream Jungle. My preference of ice cream is Nestle Ube Espesyal.
Dream Jungle Fresco
1 whole ube yam
2 oz of VuQo Premium Vodka
2 teaspoons of sugar
Ice
Blend and serve in a martini glass. Fresh taro flavor for a light island taste.
Note: For a stronger punch, make 2 parts ube to 2 parts vodka.
I'm not sure if I'm the first to ever make a macapuno like/ ube cocktail or use ube in an alcoholic beverage but it sure was fun to see that I'm the first to post on the internet drink recipes with one of my favorite foods on the planet.
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
The Purple Yam and I
Purple Yam is a species of yam. In botany, this species is also known by the names "water yam" and "winged yam." It contains pigments that gives its bright lavender color. It is sometimes confused with taro and the Okinawa sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas cv. Ayamurasaki).
In Hawaiʻi it is known as uhi, in India as ratalu or violet yam, in Marathi as KondFal (कोंदफळ), in the Philippines as ube, in Tamil as "Rasa Valli Kilangu", in Tonga, Samoa and Tahiti as ʻufi" , and in Vietnam as khoai mỡ.
Purple yam is used in a variety of desserts, as well as a flavor for ice cream, milk, Swiss rolls, tarts, cookies, cakes, and other pastries. In the Philippines, it is eaten as a sweetened dessert or jam called ube halaya and added as an ingredient in the ice dessert called halo halo. In Maharashtra, the stir-fried chips are eaten during religious fasting. Purple yam is also an essential ingredient in Undhiyu.
Studies have shown that yams were used traditionally in herbal medicines because of their reported effects on the organ systems. They reportedly lowered sugar levels, improved metabolism (chemical changes in the blood), prevented damage in blood vessel walls, and provided energy antioxidant defenses.*
* Wikipedia
PURPLE IS GOOD - MOM KNOWS BEST
My affinity for ube really took off when I hurt my hand. I looked for a natural anti-inflammatory remedy and I found that ube was one of them.
I immediately shot down to Kim Long's market and bought the root to boil. My mom has been an avid yam eater for several years. She wraps a moist paper towel around the yam of her choice and she'll nuke it until it is soft enough for her to eat. She eats yams like it was going out of style- like they were bananas or something. She told me to eat them years ago but being her son, I never adhered to what she advised. I did for a little bit but it dissipated after a week or so.
PURPLE IN SOUP
When I got bored a year or two ago I put ube in sinigang. I shared my recipe with some people and their reactions were that I was either crazy, that it didn't belong in it or they'd never heard of it. To me, it was an amazing discovery coupled with the tangy tamarind flavor of the broth (unfortunately from a packet).
In the last year, I have had ube ice cream taste tests to see which flavor was the best. I've gone to Seafood City and bought every brand there was and compared flavors. My grades were based on which was the sweetest, more like the real ube, creamier, lacking flavor etc.
I attempted to make ube ice cream from scratch. I used real ube taro, soy milk, milk, and various ingredients to creating ube ice cream sandwiches. I even made the sandwich out of ube. In all honestly, that first attempt came out more like an ube cookie. I think I was the creator of the first ube ice cream sandwich and only a handful of people have tried it.
VuQo
With that said, I jump to my rekindled interest in vodka. To make a long story short, I wanted to compare the top 10 vodkas to VuQo, a Philippine vodka made out of coconut nectar. It took me a month to try VuQo because I had bronchitis and I wanted to mend before indulging in fire water.
What Tequila is to agave and the Mexicans is Lambanog to the coconut and the Filipinos. The cottage industry moonshine was reinvented after 400 years and is the first and only vodka out of the Philippines as of the time of this blog.
Earlier in the week, I tried the French made Ciroc (distilled from grapes) and Chopin (distilled from potato) and of those two, Ciroc was the smoothest however Chopin was a very good contender with a little bit of a kick. $10-15 for a neat shot was an expensive experiment.
TASTE TEST
From here, my creativity was put on blast. I read about dozens of brands. I bought 2 vodkas that I liked for it's novelty. Tito's handmade vodka from Austin, Texas (yes, Texas! and voted better than Absolut, Ketel One, Grey Goose and Belvedere) and the actor Dan Akroyd's brand from Canada which I loved the bottle for a crystal skull- and the special price that I got at Albertson's (to include the gift skull shot glasses for the price of a regular bottle).
I decided to have a 10 am Pepsi Challenge so that I could report back to the owner my thoughts of his vodka. I found a beautiful faint aroma and smooth taste to VuQo that Grey Gooses' punch lost to, that Crystal Head missed out on and Tito's Handmade vodka did not have. Although the latter vodkas are good, with Grey Goose at dead last, VuQo reined champion.
CUT TO THE CHASE
I wanted to make an ube drink but desserts were all ube were reserved for- shakes mostly. So I brainstormed for a few days until a tattoo client of mine, Glen Maniago, mentioned margaritas and/or daiquiris. Ice. Mexicans, tequila, tropical drinks. Light bulb.
I returned to Seafood City and bought frozen ube, Yam Jam (a macapuno spread of ube and coconut) and some ice cream to wash it all down. I also bought 2 more bottles of VuQo (before I even tasted the first bottle) for my trip to Australia and my friends down under.
I never touched the Yam Jam. The fresh/frozen ube attempt was very nice and light for a summer like drink but the winner was when I decided to make blended drinks with the ube ice cream.
From there, that's all she wrote. I think ube history/cocktail history was made. At least in my lab aka as my kitchen.
After you enjoy making these original recipes (see recipes on the right and if you're not too hammered, tell me what you think! ;)
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
In Hawaiʻi it is known as uhi, in India as ratalu or violet yam, in Marathi as KondFal (कोंदफळ), in the Philippines as ube, in Tamil as "Rasa Valli Kilangu", in Tonga, Samoa and Tahiti as ʻufi" , and in Vietnam as khoai mỡ.
Purple yam is used in a variety of desserts, as well as a flavor for ice cream, milk, Swiss rolls, tarts, cookies, cakes, and other pastries. In the Philippines, it is eaten as a sweetened dessert or jam called ube halaya and added as an ingredient in the ice dessert called halo halo. In Maharashtra, the stir-fried chips are eaten during religious fasting. Purple yam is also an essential ingredient in Undhiyu.
Studies have shown that yams were used traditionally in herbal medicines because of their reported effects on the organ systems. They reportedly lowered sugar levels, improved metabolism (chemical changes in the blood), prevented damage in blood vessel walls, and provided energy antioxidant defenses.*
* Wikipedia
PURPLE IS GOOD - MOM KNOWS BEST
My affinity for ube really took off when I hurt my hand. I looked for a natural anti-inflammatory remedy and I found that ube was one of them.
I immediately shot down to Kim Long's market and bought the root to boil. My mom has been an avid yam eater for several years. She wraps a moist paper towel around the yam of her choice and she'll nuke it until it is soft enough for her to eat. She eats yams like it was going out of style- like they were bananas or something. She told me to eat them years ago but being her son, I never adhered to what she advised. I did for a little bit but it dissipated after a week or so.
PURPLE IN SOUP
When I got bored a year or two ago I put ube in sinigang. I shared my recipe with some people and their reactions were that I was either crazy, that it didn't belong in it or they'd never heard of it. To me, it was an amazing discovery coupled with the tangy tamarind flavor of the broth (unfortunately from a packet).
In the last year, I have had ube ice cream taste tests to see which flavor was the best. I've gone to Seafood City and bought every brand there was and compared flavors. My grades were based on which was the sweetest, more like the real ube, creamier, lacking flavor etc.
I attempted to make ube ice cream from scratch. I used real ube taro, soy milk, milk, and various ingredients to creating ube ice cream sandwiches. I even made the sandwich out of ube. In all honestly, that first attempt came out more like an ube cookie. I think I was the creator of the first ube ice cream sandwich and only a handful of people have tried it.
VuQo
With that said, I jump to my rekindled interest in vodka. To make a long story short, I wanted to compare the top 10 vodkas to VuQo, a Philippine vodka made out of coconut nectar. It took me a month to try VuQo because I had bronchitis and I wanted to mend before indulging in fire water.
What Tequila is to agave and the Mexicans is Lambanog to the coconut and the Filipinos. The cottage industry moonshine was reinvented after 400 years and is the first and only vodka out of the Philippines as of the time of this blog.
Earlier in the week, I tried the French made Ciroc (distilled from grapes) and Chopin (distilled from potato) and of those two, Ciroc was the smoothest however Chopin was a very good contender with a little bit of a kick. $10-15 for a neat shot was an expensive experiment.
TASTE TEST
From here, my creativity was put on blast. I read about dozens of brands. I bought 2 vodkas that I liked for it's novelty. Tito's handmade vodka from Austin, Texas (yes, Texas! and voted better than Absolut, Ketel One, Grey Goose and Belvedere) and the actor Dan Akroyd's brand from Canada which I loved the bottle for a crystal skull- and the special price that I got at Albertson's (to include the gift skull shot glasses for the price of a regular bottle).
I decided to have a 10 am Pepsi Challenge so that I could report back to the owner my thoughts of his vodka. I found a beautiful faint aroma and smooth taste to VuQo that Grey Gooses' punch lost to, that Crystal Head missed out on and Tito's Handmade vodka did not have. Although the latter vodkas are good, with Grey Goose at dead last, VuQo reined champion.
CUT TO THE CHASE
I wanted to make an ube drink but desserts were all ube were reserved for- shakes mostly. So I brainstormed for a few days until a tattoo client of mine, Glen Maniago, mentioned margaritas and/or daiquiris. Ice. Mexicans, tequila, tropical drinks. Light bulb.
I returned to Seafood City and bought frozen ube, Yam Jam (a macapuno spread of ube and coconut) and some ice cream to wash it all down. I also bought 2 more bottles of VuQo (before I even tasted the first bottle) for my trip to Australia and my friends down under.
I never touched the Yam Jam. The fresh/frozen ube attempt was very nice and light for a summer like drink but the winner was when I decided to make blended drinks with the ube ice cream.
From there, that's all she wrote. I think ube history/cocktail history was made. At least in my lab aka as my kitchen.
After you enjoy making these original recipes (see recipes on the right and if you're not too hammered, tell me what you think! ;)
Original recipes by Aleks Figueroa. Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
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