Santol Juice

Towards the end of July the boys started to get cough and colds because of the onset of rains. When I was a kid my Dad told me that fruits change depending on the season. During dry months (summer) you'd usually find more fruits that help hydrate your body, i.e. watermelon and singkamas. And during the wet months you'd find more citrus fruits like santol and dalandan. Banana though is available all-year round because it keeps pimples away (my Dad's explanation, "Have you seen a monkey with pimples?" - he's funny that way).

We used to have a santol tree in front of our house. It bore a lot of fruit! Aside from munching on the fruit my Dad would usually prepare santol juice. Unfortunately though the santol tree died a few years ago. Pinaglihian raw like our old guava tree.

Here's how you can make santol juice:

Ingredients:
4-5 pcs. santol
2 liters water
brown sugar (to taste)

1. Peel the santol. Scoop out the seeds and put in water.
2. Chop the soft inner flesh into tiny cubes, add in the water.
3. Add sugar to taste. Mix.
4. Allow the santol to soak for a few hours (or overnight) in the ref.

*You can add water about 2 more times or until it just tastes like santol-flavored water.