by How could you ever completely separate Mexico and Texas? As a native Texan, I’m not always sure where one culture ends and the other begins, especially when it comes to food. I’ve grown up eating that delicious blend–TexMex–and drinking a variety of beverages. On days when the pavement could melt and reporters run around trying to fry eggs on cars, nothing quite satisfies like an agua fresca.
Refreshing Water
Like everything else, I’m sure what I’ve come to know is some happy TexMex version of agua fresca. Also known as agua de fruta, this cool summer drink is basically a slushy fruit juice. You got your fruit and a little something to make it sweet. I think where this recipe gets more Tex than Mex is with the addition of ice.
On the way back from Port Aransas, we stopped in Luling at the farmer’s market to pick out a watermelon. Now, the Luling Watermelon Thump has been THE word on all things watermelon since 1954, and the festival is always the last full weekend in June. The lady at the stand asked what kind we wanted. I prefer seeded and sweet, so she recommended a Sangria (there are lots of watermelon varieties!), thumped one, and pronounced it good.
Oh, those fresh slices were delicious! But a big ole watermelon is a lot for two people, especially two people with a small refrigerator. What to do with all that fruit? I decided agua fresca was the answer.
How to Make Agua de Sandia
I researched recipes and distilled the basics:
- 2 cups seeded watermelon chunks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- ice
I cut off the rind and removed seeds from our remaining watermelon. Seeding’s not so bad–I enjoy doing mindless, time-consuming kitchen work while listening to My Favorite Murder, a true crime/comedy podcast. Time flies!
Fruit chunks went in the blender along with approximately two handfuls of ice. Because the watermelon was so naturally sweet, I opted for a scant 1/2 cup of sugar (more like 1/4 cup). A quick whirl turned the ingredients into a grainy slush. Though several recipes recommended straining, we didn’t; there were no seeds to speak of (good job, Leah!). Like I’d die if I had to spit watermelon seeds, anyway.
Can You Freeze Watermelon?
With rinds in the compost, I still had about six cups of fruit remaining. Since I didn’t know when we’d want another pitcher, I bagged 2-cup portions and froze the watermelon for another day.
A week later, agua fresca sounded like the perfect post-workout refresher. I pulled out a bag of frozen watermelon and quickly discovered the resulting chunk was too massive for successful blending. Hmmm . . . adding water helped dissolve the ice but diluted the flavor.
That batch of agua fresca turned out watery and sub-par.
The next time around, I thawed my 2-cup chunk of frozen watermelon first. That solved the blending problem. And because the fruit was its natural consistency, proportions of water and ice remained perfect.
So that’s all there is to agua fresca. Oh, you can add a little mint to the glass for garnish. Or use honey or some other preferred sweetener. And opt for a different fruit–or vegetable (I think this cucumber lime recipe sounds ever so tasty).
As we Texans have learned, stay true to the basics but don’t be afraid to make it your own.
Leah, I have found that a sheet of parchment on a cookie sheet will allow you to put blender sized chunks on it to freeze. Then bag them.
That gives you the ability to use what you need, still frozen. You can even skip the ice.
Of course, a bit of rum and lime is lovely as well!
Excellent! Thank you for that tip 🙏🏽