Saturday, July 11, 2009

Cooling tea

Crazy weather... hot and cold and hot and cold. Plus the H1N1, flu bug in the air...

Time to make cooling tea. Last 2 attempts i only use lou han guo and chrysanthemum. Today i added another ingredient. Total of 3 ingredients...

Ginseng roots (Yang shen xu) - 1 handful - boil for 45 mins in 1 big pot of water.


2 lou han gou - Wash whole - Crush the shell, separate the seeds... Add to pot after ginseng roots has boiled for 45 min... let it boil for 20 mins.


Chrysanthemum - there are many types, this one is recommended by Fock Hua medical hall. Cost $5, use 1/5 pack...

Add to pot, bring mixture to boil and immediately turn off heat.
Cover pot with lid for at least 30 mins... let the chrysanthemum soak.
You are not suppose to cook/boil chrysanthemum.


End product after 45min + 20 min + 20 secs...
Big pot of cooling tea.

Dont be fooled by the pitch black. its actually sweet (i didnt add sugar!).
Lou han gou and chrysanthemum has natural sweetness.
Ginseng root leaves the 'gan' bitter sweet after taste. Yummy.


Dont throw the leftovers, boil a pot of hot water, pour over and cover for 1 hr.
This is be batch 2. Colour wont be black cos didnt boil the lou han gou.
See how pretty the chrysanthemum is... and how much bigger it has expanded after soaking.

2 comments:

Ruth said...

i never knew lou han guo actually looks like that!! haha.is it available in supermarkets?

Food of life said...

dun think so, but chinese medical halls all have. very cheap one. :)