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Bidh-Dheng Pokak Madura - Madura Spiced Drink
This spiced drink is one of Indonesian traditional drinks. The spices will warm your body and is perfect for cold weather or when you have a cold/flu.
Each region in Indonesia has its own specialized drink, some are tea based, some are spice based, some has milk in them, and some even has raw eggs à la egg nog! Some of these are touted to have health benefits, especially ones categorized as jamu (traditional herbal drink), but even if the claim is dubious, they are all unique and delicious on its own. It is pretty sad that our traditional drinks are slowly falling out of fashion and replaced by the ubiquitous tea and coffee houses, serving the exact same drink that one can find the world over. It is only in a more traditional shop that one can still find this kind of traditional drinks.
In the spirit of not letting these drinks die a horrible death, I have tried to introduce them here, ranging from wedang jahe, wedang teh susu, wedang ronde, wedang jahe sereh, sari asam jawa, kopi lethok, to bajigur. Now I give to you bidh-dheng pokak, a spice based drink from Madura. The most prominent spice in this drink is ginger, which will warm you up in colder weather. Other spices that made up this drink are: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, black pepper, lemongrass, and pandan leaves. If you have access to all the ingredients, do give this lovely drink a try. :)
Bidh-Dheng Pokak Madura - Madura Spiced Drink
Ingredients
- 5 cups water
- 100 gram ginger (Indonesian: jahe), peeled and bruised
- 2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), bruised and knotted
- 2 pandan leaves (Indonesian: daun pandan), knotted
- 2 inch cinnamon stick (Indonesian: kayu manis)
- 4 cloves (Indonesian: cengkeh)
- 2 star anise (Indonesian: pekak/bunga lawang)
- 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorn (Indonesian: biji lada hitam)
- 125 gram sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, and let steep for another 10 minutes.
- Strain into serving glasses, serve hot or warm.
Comments
Ari says:
What an admirable mission you have! I am ashamed to admit that I've never heard of this drink before, but now I do, thanks to you!
Quinn says:
125 sugar, or to taste is this 125gram of sugar?
Anita says:
Hi Quinn, it is indeed 125 gram of sugar. Sorry about that. I am going to update the recipe :)
Milky says:
I've lost track of the other Indonesian hot drinks I've tried from here (and they're all pretty much amazing), but I can say this one has the "spiciest" personality, because of the star anise and cloves. My one substitution is that I use an artificial extract for the pandan- adding a few drops after letting it cool a bit.
When I took my first sip, my immediate reaction was to mutter to myself, "Damn, that's good." I felt warmed up right away; usually I'd compare these kinds of things to masala chai, but this one hit me like a mulled wine.
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