Selfheal Fruit Juice – Xia Ku Cao
On my trip to Hong Kong, I picked up another weird drink that I had never seen before in a 7-11. Beside the fact that I didn't recognize the name 夏枯草, I could tell it was weird because of the drink's tagline: "Common selfheal fruit-spike drink." That doesn't give me any clue as to what's in it.
It tastes basically like raisin juice, but really a mild flavor. It's not sour or bitter at all, and not even too sweet. It just has a little raisin-y aftertaste, and is pretty refreshing cold. I think you could also drink it hot, like the jew's ear juice, and it might taste good that way too.
Checking my trusty Chinese translator, nciku.com, it seems I've never heard of this fruit before either. It's xia1 ku1 cao3 in Mandarin, ha6 fu1 chou2 in Cantonese, Prunella vulgaris in Latin, and "Self-heal" in English. Also known as Lance Selfheal in the US, it's a flowery plant that's harvested for it's medicinal properties. It supposedly can help to heal a whole bunch of diseases, and is being researched for cancer, AIDS, and diabetes treatments.
Getting to the label, here are the ingredients: purified water, cane sugar, common selfheal fruit-spike, dates, grosvenor momordica fruit, and liquorice root. If you're wondering what the second-to-last ingredient is, it's luo han guo, which is probably why this tastes a little similar to the luo han guo juice I tried in Thailand.
The xia ku cao juice has no preservatives or artificial colorings, and based on the ingredients it sounds like it's really good for you. It tastes good too.
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Really, what sounds more appetizing than juice from a Jew's ear, especially "Quality Jew's ear selected from Changbai Mountain?"
I'm actually pretty nervous to try it. From the Chinese name, 黑木耳露 （Hei1 Mu4 Er3 Lu4）, I know that it's wood ear juice. Wood ear (evidently a.k.a. Jew's ear) is a fungus that's pretty common in Chinese dishes, but I would never think about drinking it. Read More >
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Inka Coffee Substitute
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The inka drink mix made by Naturalis Inka comes in a round can similar to instant coffee. The brown powder smells woody, but has a very similar aroma to the powdered coffee brands we're all used to. To make the inka beverage, you're supposed to use one heaping teaspoon of the powder, mixed with boiling water or milk. I tried it with water, and the inka coffee that resulted was suprisingly black, with a white and brown foam. It does taste like a very weak coffee, but maybe that's just because of the similarity in making it, and how it's known as a coffee substitute. Read More >