Recipe: A Jamu Tonic to Keep Your Energy Flowing

A powerful plant-based tonic to wake-up your system and encourage your energy to flow.

Preparation time: 1 hour Cooking time: 30 minutes

We’re keeping our health in-check with a daily dose of jamu. This potent combination of red ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, pandan, cinnamon and clove will give your body a gentle kick-start and strengthen your immunity, too.

BEFORE YOU START Organisation is the key to good jamu making. Start by washing and peeling your ingredients where necessary. You’ll need a large pot for boiling and a blender, but don’t worry if you can’t access one. “You can easily use the traditional method,” says our head mixologist Hary Wahyudi, “just use a grater to crush ginger or turmeric”.

FIRST, WE EXTRACT Jamu ingredients need to be extracted before they’re combined. Make each extraction separately and then store them in glass bottles – labelled and in the fridge – for up to 5 days. Fresher is, of course, always better, so if you’re not planning on consuming large amounts of jamu, adjust the quantities to suit your needs.

Ingredients 1.5 kg red ginger 1.5 kg turmeric 500 g lemongrass

100 g pandan 100 g cinnamon 50 g cloves

Method To extract red ginger, blend with 3.5 L filtered water until well combined, strain and store. For turmeric, blend with 3.5 L filtered water, strain and store. Boil lemongrass in 3.5 L filtered water with the lid on for 30 minutes, set aside to cool. Boil pandan leaves in 1 L filtered water with the lid on. Set aside to cool. Boil dried cinnamon in 2 L filtered water with the lid on for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. For cloves, boil in 1 L filtered water with the lid on for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

JAMU ENERGY Ingredients 50 ml red ginger extract 75 ml turmeric extract 100 ml lemongrass water 50 ml pandan water

10 ml cinnamon water 20 ml clove water 15 ml lime juice

Method Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan or pot. Simmer at a low temperature with the lid on for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving. We serve our jamu chilled, but it also can be enjoyed warm. Just simmer it again for a couple minutes until the liquid heats up.

For more Jamu recipes, follow these links to learn how to make a Jamu to keep you in balance or a Jamu to detox your system.

Bar tip Looking for a way to reuse all those ginger and turmeric skins? Take a look at our root beer recipe.

Disclaimer: this article and its recipes are not intended to replace the advice and treatment of a professional medical practitioner. Please seek advice from a registered practitioner before incorporating them into your health routine. These recipes belong to Potato Head and may not be republished in any form without written permission from the owner.