Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

au tai (tongan fruit beverage)

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Amy Alusa
Chico, CA

As I became familiar with my former husband's family-before he was "former", I got to drink "Au Tai" pronounce "Ow tie". It is common in Tongan households to have a pitcher of this drink in the refrigerator, all times of the year, but especially in the summer. It is absolutely delicious. It is a little bit of a chunky beverage, but the chunks are small and are a refreshing treat. This is a somewhat labor intensive drink, but you'll find it is incredibly refreshing; and well worth the effort. My family and friends love it.

(1 rating)
yield 1 gallon
prep time 1 Hr

Ingredients For au tai (tongan fruit beverage)

  • 1 lg
    watermelon
  • 1 lg
    coconut, freshly grated (you may use frozen, but not commercially bagged
  • 1 lg
    pineapple, cored, grated (if you need to, you can use canned with juice)
  • 1 c
    half and half
  • 3 Tbsp
    granulated sugar

How To Make au tai (tongan fruit beverage)

  • 1
    Cut watermelon in half. Scoop out the melon from the shell, using a regular or soup spoon (pieces need to be bite sized or smaller.) Do not include seeds. Put melon meat and juice into a gallon pitcher.
  • 2
    Cut open the coconut shell, remove meat and grate. Put coconut meat into the gallon pitcher.
  • 3
    Core and remove outside of pineapple, and grate the pineapple meat; or add can of pineapple (crushed and juice). Pour into the pitcher.
  • 4
    Add half and half and sugar. Stir well. Fill pitcher to the top with cold water. Stir well. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
  • 5
    During the off season, you can use 6-8 mangos and 6-8 apples in lieu of the watermelon. You still need the pineapple,coconut, etc.though.
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