Mango and melon smoothie

I love melon and I love smoothies. Not necessarily for breakfast, and not only during the hot summer months when ice-cold drinks seem nothing less than heaven-sent, but just about any time I feel like it.

But melon can be monotonously sweet. I usually pour in a teaspoonful of calamansi juice to add a refreshing zest to the sweetness of the melon. So, when I chance upon almost ripe mangoes — on the verge of sweetness but with a sharp tang of the sourness that it is about to discard (we describe as nag-aagaw tamis) — I ditch the calamansi juice.

Half a melon and one large or two medium not-quite sweet mangoes make the perfect smoothie. You get enough to fill two tall glasses. Double or triple the ingredients if serving to more than two people.

Cut a medium-sized melon in half (you will only need one portion so set aside the other half). Cut the half melon into slices and scoop the flesh with a spoon or teaspoon, cut into cubes and dump into the blender.

Slice the mango, discard the stone at the center, score with a sharp pointed knife to create squares then scoop out the flesh with a spoon or teaspoon directly into the blender.

Add sugar (honey works too), pour in about half a cup of cold water and top with lots of ice. Pulse the blender a couple of times to start the processing. Then, set on low and process of about 15 seconds. Turn up the speed to high until the ice is crushed.

Remove the cover, pour in about half a cup of milk and process on low speed for about five seconds. Pour the mango melon milkshake into drinking glasses and enjoy.