Lor Hon Gou And Dried Longan Drink 羅漢果桂圓茶

As promised the temperature soared beyond 43 degrees C and I thought what more appropriate to make than another cooling drink in this weather. Lor hon go (Siraitia grosvenorii, 羅漢果) literally means monk's fruit, perhaps it is the appearance of the fruit that resembles a monk's bald head? Brewed together with dried longan and rock sugar you get the most delicious drink that not only brings back some balance to your body, it also is rather delicious served hot or cold. For  more information about cooling drinks, check out my first post about liang cha click HERE.

P.S I'll be posting something warming for my friends currently facing the extreme cold weather on the other side of the globe.

you'll need;

I lor hon go, halved

A knob of rock sugar (add according to your liking)

25g of dried longan

2 l of water

Simmer everything for about 20 minutes

It is delicious served hot or cold

If this is not your kind of tea there is always something that people in Hong Kong call the "kwei lo leung cha" meaning white man's cooling drink! That's beer to you and me!

Candied Winter Melon And Barley Drink 冬瓜糖薏米水

A very popular drink served at most Malaysian coffee shops; while adults are having their coffee or tea sweetened by condensed milk, kids are happily sipping this while waiting for their wanton soup  or lo mai kai  to arrive. I decided to place this in the same catagory of leong cha as it has the same "miracle power" of removing excessive heat from our body. This is another drink being made regularly back home when the weather turns hot and humid or too much fried food is consumed.

you'll need;

100g of rock sugar

200g of barley, washed

150g of candied winter melon

2 l of water

Simmer for 40 minutes, serve it warm or chilled.

Chrysanthemum And Chinese Date Tea 菊花紅棗茶

I think this is quite an appropriate time for me to start a leung cha 涼茶 series as the weather is heating up rather quickly here. Leung cha in Cantonese (or liang cha in mandarin) meaning "cool tea" is widely available from shops specialising in selling various types of "cool tea" and herbal tonics all across southern China (Guangdong), Hong Kong and South East Aisa. Despite being called a tea there is no tea leaves used for making it, rather different combinations of hearbs and flowers are used and often sweetened with either rock sugar or honey. They are also sold in powder form or as premixed drinks in either cans or bottles, unfortunately both are saturated with white sugar.

Different types of leung cha are made back home during the few hot and humid months that we do get in Cameron Highlands. It is also believed to have the ability to cool down our bodies and cure certain illness like cough, insomia and sore throats depending on which ingredients are used.

Having hotter days mean spending more time out in the sun and having more indulgences like drinking and eating lots of bbq food which all are believed to disturb the balance of our body. To counter the ill effects of all the above I decided I'll share some recipes for this wonder drink for the next few weeks. I am using chrysanthemum and Chinese red dates today, both easily sorced from your local Asian grocer. Try to make some after a big weekend or have some chill in the fridge on hot days, you'll be a convert in no time too.

you'll need;

25g of dried chrysanthemum flowers

25g of Chinese red dates, washed

25g of rock sugar

2l water

Simmer for 20 minutes, serve hot or chilled.