It’s commonly available in Malaysian kopitiam as calamansi lime grow very well here. I like ordering this juice knowing that it’s definitely freshly squeezed. Because calamansi lime is inexpensive, vendors are generous with it. You may get diluted watermelon juice but you will unlikely to get a diluted limau asam boi.

This fresh juice is has an interesting tanginess from calamansi lime and sweet-salty sour plum, also known as asam boi. Order this juice on a hot day and especially if you’re going to eat something spicy or heavy. The refreshing juice will cool you down and improve your appetite. It’s also high in vitamin C. So swap your Coke with this drink instead.

TOOLS

• Glass
• Sieve
• Blender

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Add 1/2 tsp sugar + 2 sour plum + 1/4 cup hot water into a glass. Squeeze 3 calamansi limes into the glass through a sieve. Blend lime peel + 1/2 cup water. Pour into glass through a sift. Top with ice.

STEP-BY-STEP

STEP 1: DISSOLVE SUGAR & STEEP SOUR PLUM IN HOT WATER
Add sugar and sour plum into a glass. Pour in 1/4 cup of warm water to dissolve the sugar and steep sour plum.

STEP 2: EXTRACT LIME JUICE
Wash lime and cut them into half. Squeeze the juice into a glass through a sift.

STEP 3: BLEND LIME
Blend lime skin with 1/2 cups of water. Pour juice into the glass through a sift.

STEP 4: TOP WITH ICE
Top glass with ice cubes.

TIPS

1. Use calamansi lime (limau kasturi). In Malaysia and Singapore, there are two common type of lime that can be used in juicing: key lime (limau nipis) and calamansi lime (limau kasturi). Use the latter. The flavour is less sharp and sweeter than key lime. What’s the difference between key lime (limau nipis) and calamansi lime (limau kasturi)?
2. Flavour with honey. If you’re not trying to achieve the same taste that you get at kopitiam, you can use other sweetener. At home, I prefer to sweeten my drink with pure honey instead of granulated sugar. It produces a milder and smoother taste. Do not dissolve honey in hot water as it may destroy its nutrient.
3. Less lime and plum for a lighter  juice I like my juice ‘kau’, a Malaysian slang used to describe beverage that is heavy/strong. If you prefer a milder taste, use two limes and one sour plum.

Enjoy!

The post Limau Asam Boi / Lime & Plum Juice – 3 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

The post Eight Treasure Tonic (Ba Zhen Tang/ Pat Chan Tong) appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Though I hated the former, I could tolerate the latter. My mother made it almost every week. As I was more interested in other sweet beverages (e.g Coke) than this tonic, she’ll coaxed me to drink it by saying ‘it will make you beautiful and strong’.

Then, I thought it was something she said just to make me finish up the drink. I was wrong. My mother’s claim is backed by science.

High in iron and vitamins

Dates are inexpensive and rich source of nutrients. It has more vitamin C than an orange and vitamin A than a carrot.

A mere ten pieces of dates provides more iron than one palm-sized beef (Source: Singapore Health Science Authority). All theses vitamins and minerals, are known to be highly beneficial for the skin.

Medicinal values & beauty benefits

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine textbook that I read , red and black dates relieves fatigue, anaemia and regulates appetite (Source: Between Heaven And Earth).

As dates replenishes qi and blood, red dates tonic is often served to girls after menstruation and mothers after childbirth. It is believed that a smooth flow of qi and blood translates to a rosy and lustrous complexion.

Now, I try to drink this tonic often. As I’m not a fan of putting much makeup on my face, I do hope that continuously drinking this tonic will spare me from putting on unnecessary foundation and blusher…

TOOLS

• Pot/ slow cooker
• Scissors

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Add 120 g red dates + 60 g black dates + 6 honey dates + 10 cups of water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. Or cook on LOW in the slow cooker for 8 – 10 hours.

STEP-BY-STEP

1. PREP: Rinse herbs. With a pair of scissors, cut red dates into half and remove its seed.

2. COOK:  Place all the dates and water in a pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for 2 hours. Or cook on LOW in the slow cooker for 6 – 10 hours for maximum flavour.

COOKING TIPS

1. Slice red dates To extract maximum flavour, cut the dates into half. I like to use a pair of sharp scissors to do so ( it’s much easier!)
2. Remove seed to avoid ‘heatiness’ Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that the seed is ‘heaty’, hence it is removed before cooking.
3. Deseeded dates You can buy red dates which seeds are already removed. I normally try to avoid and only buy it when I’m really busy as it deteriorate faster.
4. Add 2 pieces (12 g) of codonopsis root (dang shen/ 党参) for extra energy boost. When I am feeling  particularly tired, I will add codonopsis root which is also known as  ‘poor man’s ginseng’.
5. Make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days. The beverage is delicious when served hot or cold. However, Traditional Chinese Medicine advocates consuming warm drinks.
6. Cook in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes. If you’re short of time, you can cook it in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes. As the cooking time is short, slice red dates into smaller pieces and squash honey dates with the back of the ladle to extra more flavour.
7. Cook in the slow cooker if possible. It’s best to slow cook this tonic. Slow cooking extract maximum flavour and nutrient from the dates.

I prefer to make this drink the slow cooker – throw everything into the pot before going to bed and wake up to a pot of nutritious sweet drink. Alternative medicine believe that it is best to drink medicinal tonic with an empty stomach for better absorption.

The above photos is boiled only for 1.5 hours. You can tell from the colour and viscosity of the drink. Slow-cooked red dates drink is deeper in colour, thicker, and pleasantly sweeter than normal.

Enjoy!

The post Red Dates Tonic (紅棗水) – 3 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

So I simplified one of my favourite recipe Jamu Drink For Health & Beauty. Instead of peeling ginger and turmeric (the latter cause my fingernails to turn yellow), I use blended spices from a bottle. Instead of boiling the tonic for three hours, I add spices and hot water in a thermos flask and let it sit overnight for the flavour to meld. Ta-da! That two tricks allowed me to have a cup of jamu tonic using only 5 minutes of my time!

This herbal tonic taste pleasant with a tinge of sour from asam keping, and sweetness from gula melaka (palm sugar) to balance the otherwise bitter taste of spices. In Indonesia, it was served at breakfast – a healthy way to start the day!

TOOLS

• Thermos flask
• Measuring spoon
• Pestle/ cleaver (to crush lemongrass)
• Knife (to chop lemongrass)

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Add 1 stalk of crushed lemongrass + 1 tsp ginger powder + 1 tsp turmeric powder + 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder + 2 cloves + 10 g gula melaka + 1 cup hot water in a thermos flask. Shake well & leave overnight.

COOKING TIPS

1. Leave for a few hours if you’re pressed for time You don’t have to leave the tonic overnight; a few hours is possible. However, leaving it longer would let the flavour to strengthen.
2. Adjust the taste according to your liking. I like my drink a bit more sourish so I’ll put more asam keping. If you like it to be sweeter, add more gula melaka. You can omit the sugar entirely if you don’t mint the herbal and somewhat bitter taste of the spices.
3. Sweetened with honey Instead of gula melaka, you can sweetened this drink with honey instead.

Enjoy your 5 minutes Jamu tonic!

The post Overnight Jamu Tonic in Thermos – 5 min appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

I first discovered this herbal plant at Free Tree Society, a non-profit organisation which giveaway free plants on environmental days to encourage a love for nature. Baida, the president, suggested that I should try Indian Borage when I asked for something edible. I was told that it was good for cough. I didn’t know how to use it then, but I was sold because the plant emits a wonderful smell (and the thick, furry leaves is very cute!)

I had it for months for decoration and fun. I water and sniff the oregano-like scent every morning. It’s such a wonderful way to start my day. Initially, the leaves curled and turned brown. I wasn’t sure whether it was overwatered or under-watered. Then I found that the sun was too harsh, hence move the table away from the window. Now it’s growing so well I have plenty of new leaves. Still, I never harvested it until my friend, Patricia, who’s suffering from a cough came over two weekends ago.

A few hours before Patricia came, I plucked the leaves and simply boil them with honey dates. Oh, how I love that some of the most nutritious food is also the easiest. It’s delicious too. This recipe produce a drink that tastes pleasantly sweet with a mild herbal taste. It’s very soothing to the throat too. Here’s what you need and how to make it:

TOOLS

• Pot
• Strainer

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Boil 1.5 L water + 12 Indian borage leaves + 5 honey dates. Simmer until water is reduced to 1 L (45 min). Strain. Serve.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF INDIAN BORAGE

Upon checking an encyclopaedia of herbal medicine, I found that this herbal plant is used in Indian folk medicine as a digestive remedy. It became mainstream when western medical circle discovered that it contains forskolin, a powerful medicine for various problems including heart failure, glaucoma and bronchial asthma. You can read more about it at Wikipedia.

Now that I know it taste so delicious and is extremely beneficial to the body, I’ll be making it a lot more. Perhaps I need to plant another pot of this plant. Next, I’ll find how else to use this plant in my cooking. Perhaps to replace basil in spaghetti bolognese?

Why don’t you consider getting a pot of Indian Borage and make this tea too?

The post Indian Borage Herbal Tea appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Every morning, I’ll have traditional jamu drink served in a small wooden cup. Normally, Jamu concoction can be rather bitter. However, at Shereton they’ve adjusted the taste to suit foreigners palate. The herbal tonic balanced with a tinge of sourness from asam and sweetness from palm sugar. Sometimes, I was told, orange juice is added for a more pleasant flavour.

During my last visit in February, I had a cooking class with Chef Masnin and asked for the jamu recipe. He told me to have one glass every morning for general health and beauty. I’ve experimented a few times, and finally got a recipe that taste exactly like it.

TOOLS

• Big pot (enough for 5 L of water)
• Strainer
• Glass bottle
• Pestle/ rolling pin
• Knives & chopping board

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Boil 5L + 100 g baked ginger roots + 100 g sliced turmeric + 5 stalks lemongrass + 5 cloves + 1 cinnamon + 4 g asam keping + 100 g palm sugar. Simmer uncovered until water is reduced to 3 L (2 – 3 hr).

COOKING TIPS

• I’ve tested the recipes a few times. I realise that you have to take time to boil it, otherwise the flavour not be released and the taste will not be right. Do not rush it. Simmer slowly. Having said that, some people prefer a lighter taste (such as my girlfriends who rarely have spices in their food).
• The fresher the herbs, the better. I’ve purchased a huge amount of the ingredients and made it a few times in two weeks. The first time, when I slow boiled it with fresh herbs produced the best tasting drink.
• Do wear gloves if you don’t want the turmeric to stain your hands. My fingers were yellow for days; many thought I got injured and had put on ointment on my hands!
• I like to peel my turmeric and ginger under running water with the end of a spoon. This way, the skin comes out easily.
• The drink will stain glasses. This explains why at Shereton Sengigi Resort, the drink was served in dark wooden cups. Avoid serving in your nice glasses and wash cups thoroughly to avoid yellow stain.
• Do adjust the taste on your own – add less asam keping if you want it to be less sour and more sugar if you want it to be sweeter.  I’ve used two different palm sugar, and realise that the level of sweetness is different.
• Store in glass container. This drink will stain plastic containers.

What do you drink to keep yourself healthy and beautiful?

The post Jamu Drink For Health & Beauty appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.