Skip to main content

Lemon grass barley drink ~ 香茅大麦茶

Barley, like other cereal or whole grains have various health benefits and being a dietary fiber it contains protein, is a good source of magnesium, vitamin B-6 and iron.  It  helps in weight loss and controls blood sugar.  So much has been said about barley, what about lemon grass?  Lemon grass, a  fragrant herb has anti-fungal and anti-microbial qualities while exuding a distinct lemony smell.  Among many of its health benefits, it helps lower cholesterol and detoxifies the body.  I once had this drink in a Balinese restaurant and it's superb when served chilled!


Lemon grass barley drink ~ 香茅大麦茶 
Ingredients

  • 2 lt water
  • 100 gm barley pearls
  • 4 pandan/screwpine leaves, knotted
  • 3 stalks of lemon grass, smashed
  • Rock sugar, cane sugar to taste (personal preference)
Method
  1. Boil water in a pot, add in pandan leaves and lemon grass.  Then add in the washed barley pearls and boil on medium heat for about an hour.
  2. When the barley pearls turn mushy, add in  sugar to taste.  (I used brown sugar in pieces ~ 冰片糖).
  3. Simmer for another 10 mins. Discard the pandan leaves and lemon grass.
  4. Serve warm or chilled.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles

This is yet another one dish meal, Hakka Mee/Hakka Noodles. These noodles are quite similar to Won Ton Noodles, except that they  have less lye water and the noodles are a bit flat and thicker.  They're served with bean sprouts with a generous serving of minced meat sauce. the noodles, ........... need to loosen them up before cooking serve with chilli sauce topped with chopped garlic ..... that will do the trick ..... yummy! Recipe for Hakka Mee aka Hakka Noodles Ingredients 180 gm Minced Pork 60 gm Garlic  -  chopped 200 gm Bean Sprouts 4 dried Chinese mushrooms - soaked and diced 3/4 cup water 1 Tsp cornflour + 3 Tbsp of water 3 servings of Hakka noodles Oil for frying. Garnishing  -  Chopped spring onions Seasoning for minced pork 1/2 Tsp Salt 1  Tsp sugar 1  Tbsp  Fish sauce 1  Tsp dark soya sauce A dash of pepper Preparation Saute the chopped garlic with 1 Tbsp oil, fry till fragrant Add in the seasoned minced pork, diced mushroo

Double Boiled Herbal Chicken Soup

Double boiling is slow cooking ........ means to put a soup pot or any covered ceramic or steel pot inside a bigger pot, immerse in boiling water, and let the soup cook at a lower temperature.  Hence the soup is cooked from heat generated from the boiling water and not from direct heat source. Double boiling lets the soup ingredients slowly release their nutrients into the soup, thus making it tasty and wholesome.  It's a long cooking process, roughly averaging 2 to 4 hours.  The tip is not to open the cover to check on the soup as it'll bring down the temperature and affect the cooking process.  The plus point is there's little evaporation and the soup will not boil over.  The only thing is to monitor that there's enough water in the bigger pot and not let it run dry.  Of course, nowadays, the slow cooker is another alternative to double boiling, saves the hassle of checking the water level.

Herbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Gao

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts.  It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets.  This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.