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Luo Han Guo and Chrysanthemum Liang Cha - Monks' Fruit and Chrysanthemum Tea
Chinese herbal tea (liang cha) is a homemade remedy for sore throat. I love this version with luo han guo (monk fruit), chrysanthemum flowers, and longan.
I love spicy and fried food, but too much, and my throat starts to hurt. For Chinese and Indonesian, we have this concept that once this happens, we have a condition call panas dalam (Chinese: fa re qi), I guess the best translation would be too much heat. For Chinese, this means it is time to consume liang cha (or cooling tea) to eliminate excess heat from the body. :D
There are actually a lot of varieties in what constitute a liang cha, but the tea I like the most are the ones that at least includes luo han guo, chrysanthemum flower, and dried longan. If you go to a Chinese herbalist, or even Asian grocers, you can find many varieties of liang cha to choose from, so your favorite may be different from mine. Give them a try, since they are supposed to be good for your body, and although we call them “tea”, there is no actual tea leaves involves, definitely a good thing if you are avoiding caffeine.
Luo Han Guo and Chrysanthemum Liang Cha - Monks' Fruit and Chrysanthemum Tea
Ingredients
- 10 cup water
- 1 monk's fruit (Chinese: luo han guo)
- 25 gram dried longan (Chinese: gui yuan)
- 25 gram dried chrysanthemum flower
- 3 slices licorice
- 50 gram rock sugar
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a pot. Crack the monk's fruit open, then add to the boiling water. Boil for 3-5 minutes, then use the back of a ladle to break the fleshy pulps and seeds of the monk's fruit to pieces.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
- Turn off heat, ladle to glasses and serve hot/warm. You can eat the longan, but not the other solid ingredients.
Comments
Anita, You are the BEST!!!! Love this one so much, even its simple but the best, hehe
Thanks Ling :)
You break open the shelf of the Luo Han Guo and boil the inside. Do you boil the cracked outer shelf too?
Hi Irene, yes, I boil the outer shell as well :)
Recently the weather is so hot. I really need to drink a lot of this.
The fruit is already very sweet and is being used as a sugar substitute. So please avoid adding rock sugar or any other sugar. Diabetics beware.
Yes, the fruit is sweet in nature. You can always skip the sugar until the very last step. Once the cooking is done, give it a taste test and only add sugar if you think it is not sweet enough :)
So far, research into Luo Han Guo shows that the sweet compounds it contains (mogrosides) does not raise blood sugar levels and so, on its own, is safe for diabetics :)
according to studies it is the flesh not the shell that is beneficial. the shell could contain pesticide as well
Hi Pete, it is very common in Asia to prepare the drink from dried whole monk fruit (luo han guo), but I understand that people can have reservations. For those who don't want to use the whole fruit for any reason, there are also luo han guo cubes commonly sold in Asian market. The cubes are much easier to use. I would say use about 2 cubes to replace one whole fruit. And since these cubes have sugar in them, don't add sugar until you have taste the drink, and only add more sugar if necessary. Cheers!
Hi, is licorice optional?
Heather, you can leave licorice out if it is hard to find. It shouldn't affect the taste much.
Is the dried longan optional?
Hi Samantha, you can omit dried longan if you don't have it, it won't be a deal breaker. :) The longan actually adds sweetness to the tea, so your tea may not be as sweet as you like, in which case, simply add sugar to suit your taste.
If I just gonna use half of lo han guo fruit, is there a way to store the other half so it wont go bad?
Hi Clarx, you can place the other half of the fruit in a zip lock bag (or an airtight container) and store in the fridge.
What an exotic drink to try! This is so beautiful and I can only imagine how comforting it must taste.
This tea sounds amazing! Pinning for later.
This was so exciting to try, absolutely loved it!
Oh, another WOW! I am a tea-lover, I am falling in love with this flavorful tea. Just need to shop for ingredients. :)
What a soothing recipe; I could really use something like this on a cool evening! Looking forward to trying this!
Can I add pandan leaves to this recipe?
Certainly. You can try adding 2-3 pandan leaves.
Will this help clean the lungs of a smokers?
Hi Paul, the drink is just for helping with coughing and sore throat from regular cold, or from eating too much deep fried food. I don't think it helps with something as serious as cleaning lungs of a smokers. If there is a Chinese herbalist shop where you live, the herbalist may be able to help you. :)
Hi. How many times a day can we drink this tea & when is the best time of the day to drink it? Thanks.
Hi Jean, you can drink as many time as you want to. There is also no rule on when to drink it, so anytime you feel thirsty, you can drink this tea instead of water.
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