4 ingredients for yummy yogurt drinks
Having plain yogurt is okay, but Kerry Ho of Hey Yogurt thinks it sometimes needs that spark
Yogurt... It’s such an easy and reliable food to have around.
I used to have yogurt with fruit all the time as a way to cap off a meal. And in between meals, I’d pair it off with potato chips, or whatever’s available that’s salty and crispy. (I know it’s not incredibly healthy, but hey, I was a student back then.) For some reason I’m looking into incorporating it again in my diet.
You can have yogurt as it is, mix it in with another dish, use it as an ingredient, or drink it.
And when you run out of ideas on how to consume it, you can just drop by your favourite yogurt shop and have a look around.
You can also go minimal or overboard with it.
“I first had yogurt at a restaurant and breakfast buffet, where they usually serve it with your choice of toppings,” answers Kerry Ho, upon recalling her first time to eat yogurt.
As the brand manager of Hey Yogurt, however, she’s since had more than enough ways to enjoy the dairy product.
Hey Yogurt is a brand of frozen yogurt drinks in Singapore with three outlets: at Jurong, Tai Seng and Tampines. Their drinks are made of premium dairy from Australia, together with other local and internationally-sourced fresh ingredients such as fruit, purple rice and oatmeal.
Their yogurt is fermented and stored in controlled temperatures and environments to guarantee freshness, thickness and consistency. They also offer customers different drinks under five series: Grain, Superfruit, Mixed Fruit, Signature, and Local.
That’s why I think she’s the right person to ask for suggestions.
“I usually go for yogurt with less sweet, and one that comes with fruit or grains,” Kerry admits.
She does love frozen yogurt, and yogurt-based drinks, a lot. “It’s easy to consume. And if it has fruit, you get to sip of a mouthful of the fruit together with the freshly made yogurt.”
So far, these are her four favourite ingredients to add to her yogurt, which result in combinations that actually taste good. Game to try them the next time you (and I) crave yogurt, or want dessert?
#1 Cookies
Oreos, for one, can be similar to “tasting ice cream cookies with every sip”, Kerry relates. Tip: Crush your choice of cookies and swirl the bits and crumbs into the yogurt, and/or pound them into big chunks to put on top. This goes for other ingredients: You can blend, purée or simply chop them up.
#2 Purple rice
You might have seen this rice often in Korean cuisine. “I never thought rice could work so well with yogurt,” Kerry observes. “It’s kind of like a meal replacement.”
Another suggestion from Kerry? Mango sticky rice, so you can have your fruit and rice and yogurt all in one.
#3 Your local fruit
Kerry cites lychee, orange and jackfruit. “Jackfruit has a strong smell, but somehow it balances off with the yogurt.”
#4 Coffee
“Some people find it sour, but coffee with yogurt to us is like the perfect breakfast combination in a drink.”
My favourite fruit with yogurt has always been cherries. In case there’s none to be had or I want something new, again, our favourite yogurt shop is just there for us to visit.
(Then again, if you have any yogurt drink recipes to share, or unusual ingredients to add to it that you think is worth it, let me know.)
For more on Hey Yogurt, check out their site, Facebook and Instagram.
