This rambutan smoothie recipe brings together three fabulous tropical fruits in one delicious drink. It's sweet, refreshing, and satisfying, perfect for breakfast or as a snack.
New to rambutans? This unique exotic fruit has a red hard shell and green outer spines. Its name derives from the Malay word rambut, meaning hairy, which perfectly describes this cool-looking fruit.
Rambutans have a pale, semi-transparent pulp that looks like a white grape. Relatives of lychees and longans, rambutans are sweeter than longans but more delicate than lychees.
Rambutans pair wonderfully with other exotic fruits, in particular pineapple and coconut. So, we decided to blend all three together into a delightfully tropical smoothie!
For this recipe, you can use either fresh or canned rambutans. You can find fresh rambutans at your local Asian food market, while preserved rambutans should be available at well-stocked supermarkets or online.
If you got hold of fresh rambutans, we'll show you to open and prep them for the smoothie in the steps below. Canned rambutans come already clean instead, so you can tip them into your blender right away!
How does this rambutan smoothie taste, you might wonder? It's sweet and a little tangy, thanks to the combo rambutan/pineapple, but also fresh, nutty, and creamy because of coconut milk.
We hope you'll love it as much as we did! So, get your trust blender ready, and let's get blitzin'!
Ingredients
| Rambutans (fresh or canned) | 8 |
| Pineapple | 100 g |
| Canned Coconut Milk | 140 mL |
| Coconut Water or Plain Water | 200 mL |
Step 1
If you're using canned rambutans in syrup, rinse them well to remove excess sugar.
If you're using fresh rambutans, make sure the skin looks red-orange, as they'll be riper and sweeter.
To open the rambutans, score the outer shell with a knife without cutting through the fruit and cut a slit.
Insert your finger in the slit and tear the skin open.
You'll have a white, grape-like fruit inside: simply pop it out and discard the skin.
Then, cut the pulp around the central seed, making sure you discard the papery coating that surrounds the seed.
Step 2
Cut the pineapple into wedges, remove the tough and fibrous central core, and chop the fruit into chunks.
As an alternative to pineapple, you can use papayas or ripe mangoes with a squeeze of lime.
Step 3
Add the prepared rambutans and pineapple chunks to a blender.
Pour in the tinned coconut milk, followed by water or coconut water, and blitz all until smooth.
Transfer into a glass and enjoy your exotic rambutan smoothie!
And if you fancy more tropical smoothies like this, check out this guava pineapple smoothie or mango passion fruit smoothie.
Tips
Can't find rambutans? You can make the smoothie with lychees or longans instead, as they're quite similar to rambutans.
Tip in a teaspoon of nut butter (like peanut, cashew, or almond butter) into the smoothie for a nutty finish and a boost of proteins.