Santol Juice

Was there ever a blog post that kept you awake in the middle of the night? Has that ever happened to you? Because a few weeks back, it happened to me. Kept me up until 3AM thinking about it. Woke up (dark circles around my eyes, eyebags and all) still thinking about it. Totally not weird right?

Want to know the culprit? It's Market Man's post about Santol Juice.

I haven't had Santol Juice in a while (make that a long long while). When I was a kid, my mom used to make us Santol Punch (that's how she calls it) when the fruit is in season. Now that we're in Manila, I rarely see this  amazing fruit in the grocery. 

And then this post happened. And I know I just have to have one. But the search for Santol was long and hard. Apparently, this fruit isn't something that's available year round. I really don't know where to look for it. Good thing, last Saturday, Landmark must have read my frustrated mind and decided to sell some! Santol there you are at last!

I basically followed Market Man's instructions on how to make Santol Juice. 
Peel of the skin of 3 - 4 santol. Chop the rind into medium sized pieces. Put the pieces, rind and seeds in a big pitcher, he says. But I don't have a pitcher to my name (I should get one now) so I temporarily placed it in a bowl then added water to it. Do we need a specific ratio of santol to water? Naahh... you can never go wrong with this one.

At this point, you can either add honey or a simple syrup and adjust according to your taste. Make it a bit sweeter than the usual since we'll still add ice later. Since I don't have a pitcher, I placed my santol juice in my pretty jars :)

Then you can let it steep for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator. Take it out, add lots of ice and enjoy. 

Ahhh refresingly sweet!! Santol, how I love you! :)