Luo Han Guo Herbal Tea

Luo Han Guo Herbal Tea Recipe

Check Out: Watercress Soup with Luo Han Guo Recipe

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.

Luo Han Guo (Monk's Fruit)

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.

Luo Han Guo Herbal Tea Recipe

Putting the monk’s fruit in a disposable soup poach

Luo Han Guo Herbal Tea Recipe

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.

Ingredients:

  • 2 litres of water
  • 2 luo han guo fruit (arhat fruit/ monk’s fruit/罗汉果)
  • 30g american ginseng fiber/”beards” (洋参须)
  • 30g dried chrysanthemum flowers (朵朵香)

Tools (optional)

  •   disposable soup bags

Directions:

  1. Using the back of your knife, gently crack open the luo han guo fruit. If you have a soup stock bags, you can place the smashed fruit, ginseng and chrysanthemum in soup bags.
  2. Boil water in a pot. Place soup bags in the boiling water and simmer for about half hour (if you like, you can discard the chrysanthemum pouch earlier). Discard soup bags (I try to press out excess liquids using a slotted ladle to minimize wastage), wait for the tea to cool and pour into serving cups. Serve warm or chilled.

Noob Cook Tip

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.