Tropicana Juice Knock-Off : Orange ( Dalandan) Concentrate

   

  How is it that the simplest things in life can give such great satisfaction? This morning when I finished  my breakfast with a tall, cold glass of Dalandan concentrate, and felt the rush of pulp bits swirling in my mouth and the undeniable freshness of real fruit. My, la dolce vita!

       One store-bought product I absolutely love despite being processed is, yes; Tropicana Juice Drinks. From where I live, these are available in returnable glass bottles pretty much like Pepsi-Cola, its bottler. It is not carbonated, and is laden with pulp bits,  so I try to convince myself that it is healthy. Which is exactly why I immediately set out to look for a way to duplicate the taste and texture at home in my kitchen.

        By the way, if you noticed the term Dalandan in parenthesis, that's local oranges in the Philippines; naturally sweet and juicy, but seasonal and primarily used for juices. It fits into a palm, and has a smooth and shiny but thin layer of green peel. It is a popular flavor for instant powdered juice drinks, but you will agree with me when I say, nothing beats the freshly-squeezed taste of real dalandan or oranges.

        So, to get that Tropicana-like juice drink taste using only the freshest, natural ingredients we will need:

1 kilo (2 pounds) of Oranges ( Ponkan, Dalandan, Florida or any kind )
2 cups sugar, white
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Roll each orange on its side using your hand against the table, to get the most juice. Cut each into halves and squeeze manually over a citrus juicer, and make sure you get most of the orange pulp bits. If the strainer caught the bits, then spoon it out and add to the juice. Set aside.

2. Boil a cup of water with 2 cups sugar just until sugar dissolves. Cool.

3. Pour the orange juice into the pot and stir with the syrup. Transfer contents into a plastic or glass bottle. Cool completely. The pulp bits will float to the top and will not look tidy but I do prefer mine like that. You may choose not to have the bits, though. This should make about 750 ml. to a liter of orange concentrate to make about 5-7 glasses, variable with the amount of juice extracted from the oranges.

4. To serve, fill a glass half-full with orange concentrate, pop in ice cubes all the way to the top, or add ice-cold water and stir.

         I hope you enjoy making orange concentrate. Oh, by the way, the juice will not have a bright orange color, like the bottled Tropicana product. But we don't really need artificial colors or flavors, do we?

        Thanks for visiting and let me know how your product turned out. Cheers!



        
<a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhomemadediyluxes.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F05%2Fhomemade-cream-cheese.html&media=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm8.staticflickr.com%2F7027%2F6851755809_df5b2051c9_z.jpg&description=Next%20stop%3A%20Pinterest" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a>        
<br>