Daily Archives: October 26, 2003

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: : A note in the Guestbook : :

I had a note from Terry Andrews in my guestbook requesting for some feedback. Although he has asked me to email him my replies, thought it might be a good idea to share it with everyone in this blog.

There are 8 different flavours of drinks Chrysanthemum Tea, Grass Jelly, Ice Green Tea, Ice Lemon Tea, Lemon Barley, Lychee, Soya Bean, Winter Melon. could you help me to match to the Asian food it best goes together with…. below

Char Kway Teow, Chicken Rice, Fishball Noodle, Laksa, Roti Prata, Satay. Could you help me to match the the 6 Asian food to the 8 drinks they best go with.

Hmm… as a general guideline, we Asians don’t usually match the drink to the food. There are no rules on drinking Asian drinks to match the food. At least, to me, that is. We usually select drinks based on personal preference or another reason i.e. sore throat, heatiness, chill, trying new things.

If you seriously want to get a better taste from the food, I would recommend that you drink hot Chinese tea when eating Chinese dishes. For one thing, the Chinese tea is believed (and I definitely do) to clean the taste out of the month after each huge Chinese dishes especially when one is eating a lot of food in a typical Chinese restaurant. Hot Chinese Tea will also sooth a sore throat and even coughs. When I was suffering through a bout of bronchitis, Chinese tea helped me to get through a meal without having to cough every few seconds. But, it must be taken hot and not cold.

So, let’s go through the list one by one :

Chrysanthemum Tea

This is drink that is known for cooling the body down i.e. it removes the heatiness from one’s body. It’s very fragrant, coming from the Chrysanthemum flower and is a very light and refreshing tea. You can find it in any Chinese Medicinal Shop and in the supermarkets as well. You can find it in the form of flowers, powdered form, drink can and as a packet drink. I remember that this was one of my favourite drinks during childhood days because it was always sweet. It was also pretty neat (to a child that is) to make Chrysanthemum drinks from powder. The powder pellets are first dissolved in some hot water and then top up with cold water. The product is from China and is recognisable by it’s yellow tin with red letterings. They have also started selling them in small instant packages. Here is a link to some pictures of the Chrysanthenum plant.

Grass Jelly

Is it Grass Jelly or Glass Jelly drink? If you mean cincau @ black semi-transparent jelly, then it’s definintely a delicious drink on it’s own. The jelly can be bought at any supermarket or grocery store and even at the wet market. It comes in the form of a rectangular block and cutting it up into small strips for drinks can be pretty messy. If you ask for the cincau drink at a coffee shop or restaurant, you will get a drink with this black jelly with some brown sugar and water added in. Grass Jelly is also one of the many ingredients used to make ais kacang @ iced nut drinks. You can now find the cincau drink in drink cans by Yeos, Seasons and other drink manufacturers. Honestly, I prefer the Seasons brand when it comes to drinking it out of a can but the freshly made one is better.

Ice Green Tea

Green Tea seems to be the IN thing today. You find it in drinks, cakes, mooncakes, kuihs, snacks, etc. Heck, you can even find a toothpaste with Green Tea inside it. The Yeos iced green tea in a can is definitely very nice and it’s the one that is served when you go and eat at a coffee shop. Goes extremely well when mixed with JD and Chivas Regal. It definintely soothes the throat and relaxes the mind. If one takes hot green tea in a Japanese restaurant, you’ll find that it quickly cools the Wasabi effect fast. Why? Well, I was trying to find a link someone online but was too lazy to filter out so many search hits. Anyway, all I know is that it works and works well.

Ice Lemon Tea

A refreshing drink that is found throughout Asia. However, the powdered version has become increasingly popular because of convenience sake. I would recommend you ask whether it’s the real tea version or the powdered one. I try to avoid drinking the powdered version because of the food colouring inside it. Yep, you might not be drinking real tea but something else. Lemon tea can also be taken hot and helps to sooth the irritable sore throat.

Lemon Barley

This is an interesting drink and it tastes all the more better when the drink is made from fresh barley. I think the canned drink version is a bit too strong. It has both the sweet, starchy barley flavour with the tanginess and citrus flavour of a lemon. It is another cooling drink which will cool one’s body down during a hot and humid day.

Lychee

Now, it’s drinks like these that give coffee shop owners a huge profit margin. It is just the lychee with some syrup and water added to the drink. It can be done easily at home by opening a can of lychee, pouring the fruit and some of the syrup in the tin into a glass filled with water. Served with ice and it makes a delicious drink or even an after dinner dessert. My preference is the mata kuching rather than the lychee as I do not really like the skin from the seed that is still attached to the flesh. I hate bitter stuff in my fruits. The skin of the seed does not stick to the flesh of Mata Kucing because the seed itself has an extremely smooth and polished surface.

Soya Bean

It’s an amazing drink and again, a childhood favourite. Imagine drinking milk that is very sweet and yet not so … errr … thick-tasting? Fresh soya bean milk is still the best and can be found in any coffee shop. It’s usually bottled in used Guinness bottles (don’t worry, it’s been cleaned before hand) for the price of RM2. Cheaper than the canned drink version and probably a great deal healthier. Ever tried fresh soya bean milk with brown sugar? It’s awesome! Had it in Petaling Street, KL. A health drink? All Asian drinks are health drinks and people have been drinking them for years and years.

Winter Melon

A definite cooling drink to cool the heated body. It’s very sweet but definintely refreshing. The burst of flavour that pops into one’s tongue after taking the sip is so… HMMMM!!!! Also known as Air Kundur, it is a drink that is very very dark brown to the point that it looks black until diluted. Again, the fresh version is better than the canned drink version.

Well, Terry, I hope that answers your question. I know it’s not much of an answer but is there really an answer to that question? There are a lot of Asian type of drinks out there which I haven’t even covered. Perhaps the readers would like to contribute? Feel free to leave a comment.

List of canned drinks Yeos.