This week, we’re sharing our take on the traditional Korean watermelon punch, subak-hwachae, using ingredients you can find here on campus! It’s a refreshing dessert drink that is traditionally made in the summertime, but there’s no reason to limit such a simple and sweet treat to only a few months out of the year.
The ingredients include watermelon, milk, a lemon-lime soda and any other fruits you want to add, as well as ice to help keep them cool.
The Marketplace always has a plethora of fruits available, particularly honeydew, cantaloupe and pineapple, which mix nicely with the flavor of the watermelon and are traditional additives to the drink. Some other options you may find are blueberries, strawberries or maraschino cherries. My friends and I tried two different varieties: one with watermelon and cherries, and another with watermelon, blueberries and kiwi, which we bought from Giant.
The drink dispensers offer the rest of the necessary ingredients. Since our campus sells Pepsi products, the lemon-lime soda we used was Starry, but this can also be substituted for other brands or even sparkling water. We also used whole milk from the dispenser for our first time making hwachae, and for the second we purchased a bottle of strawberry milk from the Jay’s Nest for some extra flavor. The Marketplace also has non-dairy milk options for lactose-intolerant or vegan variations.
The recipe itself is rather simple. To start, make sure your fruit is cut into bite-sized pieces and place them into a bowl. Pour the milk and soda over the fruit until the bowl is full. Add small ice cubes, then stir to mix. Grab a spoon and enjoy!
For the first attempt, I made only one small bowl that had mostly watermelon and the liquid ingredients, so the flavors were fairly balanced and not overly complex. On the second attempt, my friends and I wanted to share between the whole group, so we made it in a large container and dished it out. We still included a large portion of watermelon, and though it’s the core ingredient of subak-hwachae (with subak translating directly to watermelon), we were hoping to taste the other fruits as well. Unfortunately, the watermelon somewhat overpowered the blueberries, kiwi and strawberry flavoring of the milk, so if you’re opting to include some other fruits, I would suggest cutting back on the amount of watermelon you add.
Whether you make it right in the Marketplace or in a container to store in your fridge, subak-hwachae is a delicious and fun way to incorporate more fruits into your diet!
