Es Teler — iced avocado, young coconut and jackfruit

i. Origin & history

Es teler belongs to Indonesia's big family of es — iced sweet drinks and desserts sold from carts and stalls in the heat of the day, including es cendol, es campur (mixed ice) and es buah (fruit ice). Its particular combination of avocado, young coconut and jackfruit is Javanese street food, and it has long been sold in Jakarta and the cities of Java.

The name is playful. Teler is colloquial Indonesian for drunk, high or in a daze, and the usual explanation is that the drink is so good, cold and filling that it leaves you happily 'intoxicated' on a hot afternoon. Es teler contains no alcohol.

Es teler became a national dish partly through business. The story usually told is that in 1982 Murniati Widjaja won a Jakarta es teler competition with her version, and the family went on to found Es Teler 77, which grew into one of Indonesia's largest homegrown restaurant chains, with branches across the country and abroad. The chain helped fix avocado, coconut and jackfruit as the standard es teler, though street vendors still vary it freely.

Using avocado as a sweet fruit is typical of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, where avocados are usually eaten with sugar and milk — Indonesian jus alpukat is an avocado shake with chocolate syrup. In es teler the avocado's rich, buttery flesh takes the place that ice cream takes in Western sundaes.

ii. Balancing the fruit, milk and syrup

Es teler is an assembly rather than a cooked dish, so its quality depends on balance and ripeness. Each fruit plays a different role: avocado gives creaminess and body; young coconut flesh gives a soft, slippery chew; jackfruit gives a strong, fruity, almost bubblegum-like perfume and a firm, slightly rubbery bite. Without the jackfruit, es teler tastes flat; without the avocado, it is thin.

The liquid is a three-part mixture. Coconut milk gives richness and a savoury, salty edge; condensed milk gives sweetness and dairy creaminess; and a syrup — plain sugar syrup flavoured with pandan, or palm-sugar syrup — tops up the sweetness and adds scent. Salt in the coconut milk is important: it keeps the drink from tasting cloying and brings out the avocado.

Coconut milk for es teler is usually cooked briefly with salt and pandan, then chilled. Heating it with salt makes it more stable and less likely to separate in the cold, and infuses the pandan. Some vendors use raw, freshly squeezed coconut milk, which tastes sweeter but must be used within hours.

Shaved or finely crushed ice is essential. It chills the drink instantly and blends with the milks into a slushy texture as you stir. Ice cubes make the drink colder more slowly and dilute it without blending.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 100 g sugar, for the syrup
• 100 ml water, for the syrup
• 3 pandan leaves, knotted
• 300 ml coconut milk
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 ripe avocados, scooped in spoonfuls
• 200 g young coconut flesh, in strips
• 150 g ripe jackfruit, deseeded and cut in strips
• 100 g nata de coco or grass jelly cubes (optional)
• 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 500 g shaved or finely crushed ice

Choose avocados that yield to gentle pressure but are not bruised; hard avocado tastes grassy and soapy. Young coconut flesh is soft and jelly-like; fresh coconuts are best, but frozen or tinned young coconut strips work well, drained. Jackfruit should be ripe and fragrant — tinned jackfruit in syrup is a good substitute (do not use unripe or brined jackfruit, which is for savoury cooking). Use full-fat coconut milk. Many cooks replace part of the sugar with palm sugar for a darker, caramel syrup, or use a bottled pandan or cocopandan syrup, a common Indonesian shortcut.

iv. Method

1. Make the syrup: simmer the sugar, water and 1 pandan leaf for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool and chill.
2. Heat the coconut milk with the salt and the remaining 2 pandan leaves over low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes, until hot but not boiling. Cool, remove the leaves and chill.
3. Scoop the avocado into bite-sized spoonfuls. Cut the coconut and jackfruit into strips and drain any jelly cubes.
4. Divide the avocado, coconut, jackfruit and jelly between 4 tall glasses or bowls.
5. Add 2 tbsp syrup and 1 tbsp condensed milk to each glass, then pile with shaved ice.
6. Pour about 75 ml of coconut milk over each and finish with an extra drizzle of condensed milk on top. Serve immediately with a long spoon and a straw.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Use only ripe avocado and jackfruit. Under-ripe fruit tastes starchy and spoils the balance.
• Cut the avocado last. It browns quickly; scoop it just before assembling.
• Salt the coconut milk. Without salt the drink tastes flat and overly sweet.
• Chill everything first. Cold fruit and milk keep the ice from melting instantly.
• Use shaved ice, not cubes. Shaved ice blends with the milks into the characteristic slush.
• Sweeten to taste at the end. Fruit sweetness varies; add more syrup or condensed milk once assembled.

vi. Variations

Common additions include nata de coco, grass jelly, cendol, sweetened tapioca pearls and a scoop of vanilla or durian ice cream. Some stalls blend the avocado into the coconut milk for a smoother drink. Es campur ('mixed ice') piles in many more fruits and jellies, while es buah uses fruit in a clear syrup.

The idea of fruit, jellies, milk and ice is shared across Southeast Asia: the Malaysian ais kacang, the Filipino halo-halo, the Vietnamese chè ba màu and the Korean bingsu are all relatives. In Indonesia, es teler is often sold alongside es cendol.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve es teler immediately, in tall glasses or bowls, as an afternoon refreshment or with a meal of spicy food such as bakso or satay. Stir before eating so the milks and syrup blend with the ice.

Assembled es teler does not keep; the ice melts and the avocado browns. Prepare the components ahead instead: the syrup keeps 2 weeks in the fridge, the cooked coconut milk 2 days, and cut coconut and jackfruit a day in sealed containers. Assemble just before serving.

ix. More from Indonesian & Malaysian

• Cendol — pandan jelly in iced coconut milk
• Ais Kacang — Malaysian shaved ice
• Halo-Halo — Filipino shaved-ice dessert
• Bingsu — Korean shaved milk ice
• Chè Ba Màu — Vietnamese three-colour dessert
• Sago Gula Melaka — sago with palm syrup