This may strike some of you as being a bit bizarre, but you just might be surprised! For non-fans of duhat (java plum), it’s the initial reaction of tannins on the tongue that often turns people off. They can’t get past that experience to the sweetness of the underlying fruit. Plus a lot of folks seem to dislike working their way around the pit either… A duhat shake is a great way to enjoy the fruit sans pits and with the tannins subdued by a whirl with some sugar. And look at that spectacular color!
I thought smushing the fruit as one might pit an olive would work nicely, but actually, the easiest way to remove the skin and meat is to use a small paring knife and curl it around the pit. Place the meats and skins of some 20 large duhat into a blender, add some simple syrup (sugar and water dissolved over heat and allowed to cool), some water and some ice.
Err on adding too little simply syrup at first, you can always add more later. You want the slight sweetness, but not so much sugar you overwhelm the flavor of the duhat.
Turn your blender on and watch the liquid color a spectacular deep purple. It was the first time we had made this at home, and everyone in the household was amazed by the color of the shake…
…keep blitzing until the skins are very fine, and the shake smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary.
We all had a little taste of the duhat shake. Two-thirds of us were sure it would be unpalatable, and that the tannins would be worse after the whirl in the blender. It wasn’t. The shake was a smash as far as I am concerned. The distinct flavor of duhat was present, just a little hint of the tannins, a nice sweetness from the pulp of the fruit and the simple syrup, and a spectacular color.
I suppose you can adjust the amount of fruit and the intensity of the color would change… The pigments in duhat skins stain, so be careful when handling the fruit.
This is what our kitchen counter looks like after experimenting with duhat shakes… what a mess. :)
41 Responses
I’ld like to try this someday..soon! Will this be available in Zubuchon? :)
So tannic would be the english translation of “pakla”? Been trying to figure that out for the longest time haha.
i take back all that i’ve said and thought against duhat, and am willing to give duhat a second chance, after seeing that wonderful color! promise, no aphud in the shake?
color is soo fab!!!
lovely color and one of my favorite fruits. Must remember when it’s in season.
Color alone is so magnifico…Someone should get into exporting Duhat! You’ll see Duhat at Dean & Deluca!
Since your in an experimenting mood Sir Marketman, how about a duhat ice cream.
Duhat Vinaigrette!
my comment is off topic but i just want to say thanks a lot for the ube halaya recipe you posted here in this site. i can’t seem to comment in that post so here i am. :) i have been experimenting on my ube cake recipe and struggled with the consistency of halaya. the usual recipe seen in the internet are for the dessert ube halaya you eat on its own but not the good halaya to use as a filling for the ube cake. cake fillings should be “jammy” as to consistency and you got it right! i just finished my best halaya today but i added eggs as well for more flavor. :) thanks a lot again!!!
absolutely stunning! :) Who would have thought – the lowly duhat turning out to be a stunner!
Astounding color. What would you call that shade of violet? That’s sure to go over well with us. We are the people who like purple.
@march, not quite off topic, same hue.
Looks like kiwi shake, just in different color!
In my childhood, summers were spent on the branches of the huge duhat and siniguelas trees around our house. We would bring our own bowls, pick the ripe duhat and put salt and shake, shake, shake!! Ditto with the siniguelas! My sisters playing house with get the ripest fruit and put it on as “lipstick”, hahahaha….I just wish my nephews and nieces would be able to experience that during these digital age. Always love the duhat color just not on my car…
I love your experiments, they open my eyes to a lot of possibilities. Duhat shake, I would never have thought of that! I love that color too, it’s an eye catcher. Hmmmn, do you think duhat margarita would work? The color makes a great presentation, and salt works well with duhat:) If you serve this in a party would it knock everybody’s socks off?
MM, have you considered removing some of the skins? This will be more labor intensive but I think the hint of the pakla would be less. Maybe you can also add a few drops of calamansi or lemon juice. Just my thought. :)
Maybe a food mill will work in taking the skins off and then blitz the pulp in the blender. Since duhat stains, could it also be a good natural food coloring?
Brilliant! I personally like the slightly astringent taste of duhat. There might be a cocktail recipe waiting to be discovered here. How exotic!
@ anonymous paul. Another synomym/translation for ‘pakla’ would be astringent.
The color and texture of duhat remind me of blueberry. What do you think of duhat muffin?
once, my brother’s friend gave us seedless duhat! maliliit nga lang yung duhat but it was fun to eat.
I love that color! Reminds me of a drink in the past (Canada Dry, Uva). Also reminds me of Fruit-tella’s grape flavor. Seeing your mess in the kitchen counter and wondering if there were stains anywhere else …
MM, the duhat shake could be mixed with tequilla and transformed into “duhat margarita” served in a glass with it’s rim coated with salted!
@MrsFroggie, splendid idea, specially after straining and rather ohohsevenish too… blended, not shaken.
lumboy! :D
did the shake change the color of your tongue still? :-)
MM, you KNOW I would absolutely LOOOOVE that color, right? :-D Just stunning!!! And as for turning duhat into shake, I was sure it would turn out well. I’ve said before that we should experiment more with local fruits, and shakes are one of the easiest and safest ways to do so. It still baffles me why, after years of Cafe Bola serving delicious camias, chico and caimito shakes, still almost nobody else is doing the same. They’re all delicious, with the caimito one being my favorite!
I think you made a smoothie rather than a shake. Wish I could try it.
yumyuminess! :)
sarap! couldn’t find any duhat though. tried two wet markets near our place but there just weren’t any :(
Is is true…duhat is good for diabetics daw?!
Seconding Tin Romero’s comment.
Would be delighted to see this at Zubuchon. I bet it would be a hit. A “seasonal” drink.
If I remember correctly, I first encountered the idea of a seasonal menu which changed depending on what produce was available for the season (or even for the day) when I read up on Alice Waters and Chez Panisse.
BTW, is there an English name for Duhat/Lumboy?
You made it! I just have to try doing that at home… :)
tipat, yes, I made it the same afternoon we harvested the duhat, a few days before the post… Alex, they are referred to Java Plums in English. Mart, yes, we are waiting to see if there is an abundance of lomboy or duhat in Cebu markets soon, at the moment, no duhat in Cebu yet… The season lasts just 2 weeks or so just about now (during the hottest months of the year) so we can’t offer it for long. But soon, it will be santol season again, which lasts 2-3 months, so we will have santol juice back on the menu again… the santol juice is really nice. Jenn Chon, sorry, don’t know about benefits for diabetics. gaye, maybe in a week or two it’ll be in the markets… our tree seems to be a bit early this year. A neighbors tree is still a couple of weeks from ripening. tercer, you are absolutely correct, technically a smoothie, but most restaurants in the Philippines refer to this as shakes, so we follow the convention, meaning, fruit that is violently shaken :) Shakes were the shortened term for milkshakes, which btw, as trivia, in some fastfood restaurants are called shakes, not milkshakes, because they don’t actually contain any fresh milk… :( Katrina, I debated for a moment whether to christen this a “Duhat Shake a la Katrina” in your honor… but thought it might confuse some readers. :) Mrs. Froggie, for friends and family at Zubuchon, we had a limited offer of kamias margaritas that were DELICIOUS! I guess the duhat with tequila would be nice too… andrea that’s cool, never heard of seedless duhat… I would have guessed they were lipote. Akeeno, no, I haven’t thought to peel them, that would be a huge mess, and I like the aphudness or paklaness. anonymous paul, yes, I apply tannic to pakla, though I always used to say astringent…
fruit “violently shaken” … hahaha – if we can only do the same to some politicians!
milkshake or shake doesn’t necessarily use “milk” in the recipe. what makes it a shake is the ice cream and do not use ice – shaved or crushed. some smoothies even use milk (and yogurt) but are still smoothies, but a milkshake should have ice cream. Call it whatever, as long as it taste good …
A few years ago I saw duhat wine being sold at one of the posh Makati hotels (can’t remember which one). How I wish I bought a bottle. Care for making wine from your excess duhat?
Mike, yes, they do make duhat wine… I haven’t tried it though. What I have tried is “balsamic” duhat vinegar, several years ago, and that was quite nice.
I can imagine this as a very nice homemade Popsicle!
We just tried your duhat shake at Zubuchon escario branch, we really liked it! My mom especially loved the purple color, great job MM! :)
AndreiMD, isn’t it amazing how purple it is? And there is absolutely no coloring at all, just the natural duhat… :)
Serendipity! My daughter picked some duhat from our tree this morning. And a few hours later I read this while going through your old posts. Tried it. Liked it. Thanks MM!
curlytops, so glad you liked it. It is a personal favorite, but duhat season is just too short! :)