Lo Han Guo and Honey Date Tea

This is my family's favourite herbal drink. I boil this all the time, about once a week or once a fortnight. It is good for general cooling against body heatiness, sore throat and cough. The English name for lo han guo sounds quite funny - grosvenor momordica.

We like it quite concentrated, so i usually boil a big pot (about 2+litres) and put in three big lo han guos and three honey dates for sweetness. That's it. Sometimes if i ran out of honey dates, that's ok too. Just boil the fruit by itself. Those who are particular about sugar level can just omit the honey dates. 

Red honey dates

Jumbo sized lo han guos; courtesy of my MIL

Lo Han Guo and Honey Date Tea

• 3 large lo han guos, rinsed 
• 3 small honey dates, rinsed
• 2.5 litres of water

1. Lightly crack open the lo han guo with your fist and dig out all the seeds. Separate them and put into the pot with the water and honey dates. 

Separate all the seeds so that the full flavour can be released

My trusty, almost 3 litre zebra pot

2. Bring to a boil, turn down the fire and slowly simmer for 1 hour. At the 45 min point, use the back of a ladle to flatten the dates to further release the sweetness into the tea. 

3. Strain the liquid and serve warm. Absolutely soothing!