My mum treated me to a spa session some time back and one of the most memorable thing that happened (besides the massage, of course) is that they served a cup of delicious, home-brewed luo han guo (arhat fruit/monk’s fruit/罗汉果) herbal tea (罗汉果凉茶) during the session. Maybe I haven’t been to many spas, but nowadays I seldom see them serving home-made drinks. According to my mum, they brew herbal teas every morning to serve their customers. Maybe it’s psychological, but I do feel healthy and refreshed drinking it especially coupled with the massage. So I decided to try making my own herbal tea at home.
Previously, I have used the fruit to cook with watercress soup whenever I have a sore throat. This herbal tea is easier to make and I can make it more regularly than the soup as a healthy herbal drink and thirst quencher. I also added a little of two of my favourite ingredients for herbal drink – namely American ginseng and chrysanthemum flowers. They complement the luo han guo well and make the drink extra cooling and delicious.
If you do not have a disposable soup poach to contain the luo han guo, just add it to the pot to simmer. Before serving, sieve the tea through a strainer.
Tools (optional)
I did not add any sugar since luo han guo is a natural sweetener so this drink is mildly sweet. I do not have a sweet tooth so it’s sweet enough for me. If you like to add sugar, you can use either winter melon sugar strips (10 minutes before you off the stove flame) or rock sugar (just before you off the flame, stir to melt the sugar thoroughly) to taste. Note that if you are using winter melon sugar stripes, they will not dissolve – you can eat the winter melon for the crunchy sweet taste or you may discard it.