Luo Han Guo Chinese Herbal Tea (罗汉果凉茶)

“Fruit of Medicine, the natrual sweet fruit, for general well being, and some even claimed for its slimming effect, with regular consumption of it.”

 Luohan guo (Medicine term as Siraitia grosvenorii), in Chinese, 罗汉果, is a natural sweet fruit which often used as medicinal herbs by Chinese physician.

Luohan guo made into form of beverages, especially herbal tea, commonly sold in many Chinese herbal shops in Singapore. We do not usually use the raw green fruit to cook herbal tea, but get the dried one which has turned into dark brown fruit with hard thin shell. This low-caloric ‘fruit of medicine’ helps to detoxify body, and hence, some even claimed for its slimming effect, if consume it on regular basis. I drink it regularly mainly to maintain general health so as to eliminate summer heat in the body which may lead to feverish illnesses.

Cook into drinks should be the best way to have it easily and conveniently. And, in fact, it has its natural sweetness, it is not necessary for adding extra amount of sugar into the cooking of Luohan guo drink. However, I liked chewing the winter melon strips in the drink, thus, I chose to add a few strips to enhance not only the taste of this herbal tea, but also creating interesting bites while having the drink.

This herbal tea drink is quick and simple as well as buck saving to cook and drink regularly, for general well being.

Ingredients
3-4 whole Luo han guo (罗汉果)
50 grams of sugared winter melon strips
3500ml – 4000ml of water

Optional:
2 tablespoons of dried longan (桂圆 aka 龙眼肉干）

Method:
1) Boil a large pot of water over high fire. When boiled, reduce heat to low fire.

2) Briefly rinse the out shell of each Luohan Guo and crush its thin shell with bare hands before adding into the simmering water. All fleshy pulps and seeds as well as the briefly crushed shells are to be added into the boil. Then, add in the dried longan, if opted.

3) Cover lid and simmer the drink for 10 minutes, the herbal drink will appear blackish in colour, by then. Add in winter melon strips. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes before heat off. Serve warm or chilled.

A cup of my Luohan guo herbal tea (about 250ml) with an addition of sugared winter melon strips counts about 50kcal and 60kcal with additional small amount of dried longan meat. If drink it plainly with just the Luohan guo, it’s almost zero calorie.

Tips: To save all the extra effort, simply boil a large pot of Luo Han Guo drink with just the Luohan Guo without any additional ingredients. Keep the remaining in refrigerator and have it as if your usual plain water drinking, if desired. Boil it again every other day when the existing drink finishes.
* Luohan Guo is usually sold at S$5 for 3 fruits, widely sold in major Asian supermarkets and Chinese medicine halls.