Every time I go to the Chinese grocery, I like to pick up one new thing. It's a little scary, sometimes, picking up bags or cans of completely mysterious ingredients, or long vegetables that don't look precisely like anything I've ever cooked. But it can be very rewarding, too. My latest find came while I was prowling a new Asian market down the street. I found this box of "Instant Ginger Tea." Wow - I love ginger tea, I thought. I'll give it a try!
Jahe Wangi: Instant Ginger Tea from Indonesia
The box was much heavier than an ordinary box of tea, and I could hear packets slithering around inside. When I got home, I inspected the little foil packets. Each of them was full of a crunchy, rather heavy substance. The ingredients, it turned out, included only powdered ginger, cane sugar, and "herbs."
I mixed it up with some boiling water and took a tentative sip. It was delicious!
It is quite sweet, with a very strong ginger flavor that warms you as it goes down. In fact, it has a lingering spiciness that builds as you drink the tea. If you like fresh ginger, you'd probably really like this.
I did a little searching around, and it turns out that jahe wangi is a traditional Indonesian drink, and it's often used to ward off colds and fevers. It's quite delicious, and even though I do think it's a little too sweet, squeezing in some lemon helps balance it out. It probably won't replace my fresh ginger tea in the winter, but it's a good alternate. It could make a wonderful iced tea, too - even a cocktail, perhaps?
Anyone else tried this?
• Buy it: Jahe Wangi, $3.25 at Dutch Variety Foods
Related: Recipe: Flu Season Ginger Honey Lemon Tonic
(Images: Faith Durand)
Comments (3)
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This tea was always stocked in my parents' kitchen because my dad (who is Indonesian) drinks it quite often. I never tried it myself, but as soon as I saw the picture of this post, I totally had a flashback to my parent's kitchen. I should try some next time I'm over. I'm not really a fan of ginger but maybe I could be swayed.
view jellygrlfrnd's profile
I encountered this in Thailand when I was getting a cold and a Thai co-worker shared some with me. I LOVE it! It's stronger than Yogi Tea in ginger and though you could get some of the effect with fresh ginger tea, this tastes different. It's my go-to when I'm getting a cold.
view lotusmoss's profile
Coming from an Indonesian household, I was brought up with this stuff and I still have a box in kitchen at home.
Honestly, it easy to make it yourself. The instant ginger tea is basically some ginger with lots of sugar cane in it. It works - but "it works" like Instant Coffee does. The real thing is better.
It's just as easy to get some fresh ginger, shred it and put in a hot water. That's how it's done in the "kampung" (village) in the Old Country.
Or better yet, you can make a ginger simple syrup and use that. It's very refreshing and I recommend putting a tab of dried lemon grass into it.
Also, I like your cocktail suggestion. I'll need to experiment...and share the results later.
view MisterDarcy's profile