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Polynesian Watermelon Drink

"''Otai' is a fruit drink which originated in Tonga and is usually made as a summertime refreshment. It is a blend of water, coconut milk, and any variety of pulped tropical fruit such as coconut, watermelon, mango, and pineapple but is almost always watermelon as it is plentiful in Tonga. A small amount of sugar may be added, although the recipe is considerably sweet on its own. I lived in Sydney many moons ago and the Polynesian families drank this by the gallons in the summer. Soooo refreshing and yummy! Serve over ice cubes."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 7 ingredients
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Polynesian Watermelon Drink

Why it works: Coconut and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 934 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Polynesian Watermelon Drink

12 servings
Prep15 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

620Calories
13 gProtein
36 gFat
72 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Watermelon1 cup diced (152g)46
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Coconut + limetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together934 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Pineapple + coconuttop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together651 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Pineapple + limetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together469 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Evaporated milk + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Evaporated milk + coconuttop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together112 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the lime

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, evaporated milk, coconut, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Bananafits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Limethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, evaporated milk, coconut, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.