Nom yen or Thai pink milk is a very popular Thai drink and probably the easiest drink to make ever! It’s sweet, creamy and comes with a pleasant, refreshing scent. The best part is you can whip it up in 5 minutes with just 2 ingredients!
A Refreshing Drink to Cool You Down
Nom Yen (นมเย็น) or Thai pink milk is a refreshing drink commonly sold, along with Thai iced tea, on the streets of Thailand. In Thai, “nom” means milk, while “yen,” in this case, means iced. Literally, nom yen means iced milk but when we’re talking about the name of a drink, it more specifically means this Thai pink milk. Though, recently many have adopted the cuter name that is nom chompoo, which translates to pink milk. So you might hear Thai people use those names interchangeably when they’re talking about this pink drink.
As you can probably imagine, nom yen is very popular among girls because of its color. Indeed, the pastel pink can be quite cute and send some people to their unicorn heaven (if you like unicorn foods, be sure to check out my butterfly pea milk also!). That’s not to say this drink has just the look. In fact, its milkiness and sweet, pleasant flavor can get real men to walk around with it in their hands too. Basically, it’s a great drink that can help cool you down on a summer day or balance out the heat in Thai dishes such as Thai holy basil chicken and tom yum goong.
Ingredients Used
Usually, Thai pink milk contains Hale’s Blue Boy sala flavored syrup (sala or salak is a type of fruit native to Southeast Asia), warm water, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. However, I personally like to make it with just 2 ingredients – the syrup and regular milk – to keep it simple and “healthier.” But don’t worry, there’s no compromise on taste here! The sals syrup is always going to taste like sala syrup, but what makes the difference is the milk. I recommend using whole milk, so you still get that creaminess. And if you happen to have evaporated milk, it doesn’t hurt to drizzle a bit of that onto the top of your drink.
I’ve checked the Hale’s Blue Boy website and found that the sala syrup is vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free so you can replace cow’s milk with other types of milk to suit your diet.
How to Make Nom Yen
Making Thai pink milk is ridiculously easy. As with many other Thai drinks, Thai pink milk is especially good with crushed ice, so I suggest you begin by preparing that first. You can do this in a blender or food processor. Or you can also put some ice in a bag and smash it with a pestle.
Then, just mix 2 cups of milk with ¼ cup of sala syrup. It’s best to use cold milk here so you don’t have to deal with the ice melting and diluting the drink just as much. You can taste the milk mixture and adjust the sweetness to your liking by adding more milk or syrup. But remember it should be sweet enough when served with ice.
Once you’re done mixing, fill 3 cups with the crushed ice and pour the pink milk over the ice. If you’re using evaporated milk, sprinkle that onto the top of each cup and enjoy!
Thai Pink Milk as a Valentine’s Day Drink
Isn’t it obvious that this drink is perfect for Valentine’s Day for many reasons? Not only is the color so fitting, but nom yen is so easy to make. Just 2 ingredients + 5 minutes and BOOM! You can never fail. To make it more special, you could also whip up my easy Thai garlic pork or Thai cashew chicken to pair with this drink. Trust me, your Valentine is going to love it! 😉
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Butterfly Pea Milk
- Honey and Lemon Tea
- Raspberry Lime Vodka Cocktail
- Cha Yen (Thai Iced Tea)
- Fresh Peach Lemonade
- Butterfly Pea Tea (Blue Tea)
Thai Pink Milk (Nom Yen) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- ¼ cup Hale’s Blue Boy sala flavored syrup
- 3 cups crushed ice
- ¼ cup evaporated milk to drizzle on top optional
Instructions
- Mix the milk and sala flavored syrup with a spoon in a mixing jug. Taste the milk mixture and adjust the sweetness to your liking by adding more milk or syrup.
- Fill 3 cups with crushed ice and pour the pink milk mixture over the ice.
- Drizzle some evaporated milk onto the top of each cup and enjoy!