IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Beat the heat with a cold noodle salad and Thai iced tea pops

Make chilled noodle salad and frozen Thai iced tea pops to help cool down in the summer heat.
/ Source: TODAY

Danielle Chang, co-founder of The Hao Life and host of "Lucky Chow" on PBS, is stopping by TODAY to share a few of her favorite Asian-influenced wellness dishes for summer. She shows us how to make cold noodle salad with pork and frozen Thai iced tea pops.

Cold Shabu Shabu Noodle Salad

This is my go-to on warm nights when it's almost too hot to cook, but I'm craving a seasonal, veggie-forward, cold noodle salad. The pork slices, borrowed from the Japanese hot pot, shabu shabu, is named after the swish-swash of the meat as it cooks in boiled water for mere seconds. Optional — but highly recommended — is the tender pork, the perfect complement to the seasonal salad mix of chrysanthemum greens, radishes and other spring-into-summer faves. Sesame seeds, seaweed flakes, radishes and other nourishing ingredients make their way into this warm-weather favorite.

Thai Iced Tea Pops

Super-sweet and strong Thai iced tea, brewed with Ceylon tea and sweetened with condensed milk, can't really get better … except when it's turned into a frozen treat. At markets across Southeast Asia, the tea is "pulled" by pouring it back and forth at high heights — both to give the tea a thick frothy top and also to cool it down while thoroughly mixing it with the condensed milk. In Thailand, this drink is often sold to-go in little plastic bags with straws, which sounds almost as fun as these frozen pops. The iced tea served in Thai restaurants derives its candy-like color from food coloring (oddly enough, the same shade of Yellow No. 6 food dye formerly used in Kraft Mac & Cheese) to produce the bold hues that this tea is normally associated with. Just before serving, it is usually topped with evaporated milk, which gives the tea a creamy body. For ice pops, I like to pour the tea into molds almost to the top, then add a tablespoon or two of evaporated milk to create that creamy body.

If you like those refreshing recipes, you should also try these:

Frozen Baked Sweet Potato
Chilled Summer Noodles