This recipe — so simple I’m almost embarrassed to use the word “recipe” — is meant as a general model for the many aguas frescas based on Oaxaca’s wealth of tropical fruits. When I first started visiting the area, I could never have duplicated these heavenly thirst-quenchers at home in New York. Now I can come close. Today some though not all of the fruits for the renowned Oaxacan aguas frescas can be bought in the form of frozen pulp imported from several Latin American countries. Look for these products in Latin and some southeast Asian markets, usually in 14-ounce plastic packets. The quality, though not on a par with fresh produce eaten in the regions where it’s grown, is often better than that of the imported whole fruit. Among the varieties available are guava, mango, papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, tamarind, and — one of my favorites — the seductive complex-flavored soursop, guanábana, a cherimoya relative that doesn’t seem to have been discovered yet in the U.S. Experiment with any or all of these by the method given here, adding the sugar a little at a time until it is to your taste. If the flavor seems a little flat, add a dash of lime juice.

The labels are unfortunately a little vague on most of the frozen fruit pulp packages, making it hard to tell whether you are getting sliced fruit or a purée. The guanábana is usually sold sliced as it would appear in a typical Oaxacan agua fresca.

Soursop fruit drink (left)

Soursop (Guanábana) or Other Tropical Fruit Drink

If you do not like the slippery texture of the fruit you can strain the juice through a medium-mesh sieve before beginning with the recipe (push down with a wooden spoon to extract as much juice as possible). Or whirl in the blender to purée, though in that case it would technically be known as a preparado rather than agua fresca.

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Course Drinks

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 14-ounce package frozen guanábana (soursop) pulp, thawed
• 2-2½ cups cold water or as needed
• 3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste

Instructions

 

• Place the guanábana pulp in a 1-quart measuring cup and fill up with water to the 1-quart mark. Add the sugar, 1 or 2 teaspoons at a time, tasting, until it achieves the desired sweetness. Stir to dissolve well. Chill thoroughly and serve over ice cubes.

Notes

Basic recipe from The Food and Life of Oaxaca

Keyword agua fresca, guanábana, soursop

NOTE: Nutrition values are approximate and for informational purposes only. Values do not include optional or alternate ingredients, nor do they include the nutritional values for any secondary recipes that may be listed in the ingredients.