Ingredients
- Longan - This is an asian fruit similar to lychee. It should be available in the asian section of any big grocery store. It has the taste and texture sort of like a pear.
- Fat-free plain yogurt
- Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
- Zip-top plastic quart bag (the freezer kind, they are thicker and more sturdy)
- Frozen fruit juice - Apple/Cherry or any other red kind
- Strainer
- (optional)
- Fat-free sweetened condensed milk
- Alternatives:
- Lychee instead of longan (a little sweeter, but a little harder to work with)
- Cream cheese instead of yogurt
- Raspberries instead of blueberries
Steps to prepare
Put the
yogurt into a strainer. Break it up as you remove it from the container. This
helps the liquid to drain easier than leaving it in one big block. Cover it
with plastic wrap and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. Be careful of
having any unsealed onions or other aromatic item as the yogurt will absorb
those odors. Next day take out the frozen yogurt and put it in a bowl.
Take the
longan and drain out the excess water from it.
Dump the
yogurt into the zip-top bag. If you want a sweeter taste, this is the time to
add the fat-free sweetened condensed milk. Be aware that this will thin the
consistency quite a bit. I found with this last batch the contrast of tart and
sweet is better without it, and it's easier to make a better looking
presentation. Squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal it.Move as much of
the yogurt to one corner as you can. Scrunch up the "empty" part, and
while holding firmly, but not pressing hard, cut a small corner off the tip of
the bag where the yogurt is.
Fill the
yogurt into the longan but be careful and don’t over fill it. Decorate it with
a blueberry.
Thaw the
fruit juice but do not add any water to it. Just before serving, spoon it over
each longan piece, trying to dribble some over the sides. If you do it right it
runs into the valleys on the fruit and looks really gross.You could also reduce
the fruit juice beforehand to make it thicker by boiling it slow and low to
remove some of the water