December 12, 2007...2:26 pm
Spicy!
That’s how I’d describe my mum’s ginger tea, or as it’s called in Indonesian, wedang jahe. Ginger tea is wonderful on a cold wintry day. I love how the viscous liquid slides down my throat and warms my chest–it’s my drink of choice as I curl up in front of a toasty fire for a riveting read (no offense to all you hot chocolate fans out there). My mum insists that the secret to great ginger tea is daun pandan (pandan or screwpine leaf) syrup. “Supaya harum,” she says, or to make it smell good.
So the first step is to make the pandan syrup…
Pandan Syrup
All it is is a simple syrup steeped with pandan leaves. You can find pandan leaves frozen (and to my utter delight, sometimes fresh!) at any Asian grocery store. This heady, fragrant leaf (I’ve heard people describe it’s flavor and fragrance as coconut-ty and it’s even compared to buttered popcorn!). Sometimes called the Asian vanilla, the pandan leaf, in my opinion, has no substitute.
Like all simple syrups, the ratio of sugar to water is 2:1 so you can adjust amounts according to your needs. Use 1 pandan leaf for every cup of sugar. The cooled syrup can be bottled and keeps in the refrigerator indefinitely. You can use the syrup to sweeten regular tea too.
Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 2-1/2 cups
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 pandan leaves, trimmed and tied into separate knots
In a medium 2-quart saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring a boil. Lower heat and stir continuously until sugar dissolves, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove leaves and reserve syrup.
My Mum’s Wedang Jahe a.k.a. Ginger Tea
Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
8 oz fresh ginger root (2 knobs, each about the size of your palm)
4 cups water
1/2 cup pandan syrup (above)
Smash ginger with flat part of a cleaver or large knife’s blade until the skin splits and the inner flesh is exposed.
In a large 6 quart pot, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. The longer you simmer, the stronger the ginger tea.
Strain and serve.
9 Comments
December 12, 2007 at 2:35 pm
[...] My mum’s wedang jahe or ginger tea You have to love ginger to love this drink. I used 8 oz of fresh ginger to make about 4 cups (or about 8 servings). Yes, that’s a lot of ginger but I’m thrilled to report that all my friends gulped it down! Maybe it was the pandan syrup. [...]
December 12, 2007 at 6:52 pm
. . .BEST . . . tea . . .ever. Best.
December 13, 2007 at 12:03 pm
tasty!
December 16, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I make a version of this often in winter…min is an Indian version: fresh ginger boiled in water for at least 10 minutes with cardamom and jaggery (an unprocessed sugar similar to but better than brown sugar). Mmmmmmmmm…..
December 18, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I’ll have to try your version, Diane. Anything with cardamom tastes great in my book! Thanks for sharing.
December 19, 2007 at 10:32 am
Your ginger tea looks so comforting. I must find some pandan leaves!
December 19, 2007 at 10:23 pm
This was amazing, I’m going and getting some leaves and ginger this weekend for sure. Since simple syrup is a common cocktail ingredient, I also wonder if the pandan syrup could give a nice herbal touch to the right mixed drink as well!
December 20, 2007 at 9:33 am
Marvin, ginger tea is soooo good!
Niki, I won’t be surprised if pandan cocktails start popping up in bars across the nation!
December 22, 2007 at 6:31 am
[...] control the size of a particular vessel, so some are quite large, which is best for green tea (or Pat’s outrageous ginger tea, which is sweetened with pandan syrup), while others are un peu trop petit. They make excellent paperweights, [...]
Leave a Reply