Spices and World History
Since the first until now, Indonesia is known for its richness of spices. We certainly have learned about world history, how hundreds of voyages by explorers in the Middle Ages to find spices. We do not know the exact and clear reason why the Europeans traveled around the world in search of spices. One reason we often hear is that the price of spices at that time was very expensive and very valuable.
At that time I only understood one thing, spices are used by humans to give delicious taste to dishes and food. I thought, maybe in that century European food was very bad because it didn't use spices and they decided to risk their lives crossing the ocean to get spices to make their food more delicious. When I was older, I understood one more thing, that spices can be used as herbal medicines and have many benefits for the body.
The benefits of various Indonesian spices and medicinal plants have been very popular for a long time to be made into herbal drinks. Indonesian herbal drinks are also known to be able to treat various mild and severe diseases. Some herbalists in Indonesia, can mix medicines from spices to treat fractures. During the COVID-19 pandemic, various Indonesian herbal drinks were promoted by the government as a form of protection and boosting the body's immune system. One of the popular Indonesian herbal drinks is Wedang Empon-Empon.
Wedang Empon-Empon
According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), Empon-empon is a term used for traditional ingredients derived from rhizomes. Some examples of rhizomes such as ginger, curcuma, turmeric, kencur etc. Empon-empon became very popular after the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo repeatedly mentioned this herbal drink for him to consume every day.
This time, I tried Empon-Empon from Mamigus Store, one of the MSMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) which is engaged in Indonesian medicines and herbal ingredients. From the product packaging, we can see that these empons are produced in Sragen, Central Java. Various benefits of this empon-empon wedang such as increasing immunity, metabolic system, preventing free radicals, reducing inflammation, and relieving coughs. It seems, this transitional weather is very suitable for drinking this herbal concoction to increase our body's resistance.
Composition and Brewing Method
Wedang Empon-Empon consists of ginger, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, pandan, secang wood, cloves and rock sugar. All of these spices have their respective properties and have been known and used for medicine since ancient times.
How to make it very easy.
First, prepare about 400-500 ml of water and start turning on the stove.
Second, put the wedang empon-empon spices into the water and let it boil.
The boiled water from the herbal ingredients will begin to turn reddish in color and emit a fragrant aroma of spices. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Transfer to a container, and the Empon-empon are ready to drink while they are still warm. How does this herbal drink taste?
About Taste
These empons are red in color due to the use of sappan wood. Secang wood is believed to reduce inflammation in our body. This herbal drink has a very fragrant aroma, the smell of spices from ginger being the most dominant. The strong ginger aroma indicates that these Empons use quality ginger. We can judge quality ginger from its aroma.
I tried to taste this herbal drink with my tongue. There is a spicy and warm taste that is very dominant in this herbal drink. This spicy taste comes from ginger and lemongrass so it is very comfortable on our tongue and throat. In addition, there is a slight bitter taste that may be from turmeric and curcuma but still balance with all the ingredients. These empons are even more delicious to drink because they have a sweet taste that comes from rock sugar. Rock sugar is considered healthier and better than regular sugar. It seems, this herbal drink can be consumed by anyone of all ages.
How does it feel on my body? First, my throat is definitely very comfortable after drinking this herbal drink. My body and feeling are fresher after finishing one cup of this herbal concoction. We need to remember, Empon-empon is not a magic potion that can protect and heal us from all diseases. However, this herbal drink still has many health benefits. So, once in a while it never hurts to try this herbal drink.
Call me Isdarmady, because I have a full name that is very long, namely Isdarmady Syahputra Ritonga. I am a head of the family who work as Farmers Vegetables Hydroponic and Consultant Hydroponics, sometimes I also sell coffee from various regions in Indonesia.
I have expertise dispensing coffee with a variety of techniques and tools brewing, because I have the desire to make a coffee shop with hydroponics as centerpieces. Help me realize that dream.
Thanks for read, vote, re-blog and support me in Hive. Maybe god will reward the kindness, let’s success together.