Jamu in Indonesia

Jamu is the traditional herbal medicine of Indonesia, especially of Java and Bali. Its roots go far back. Stone mortars from the site of Liyangan in Central Java, from the Mataram era of the eighth to tenth centuries, and reliefs on Borobudur already point to the preparation of herbs.

At the courts of Java, in Surakarta and Yogyakarta, the knowledge was refined. Princesses and ladies of the court used jamu for beauty and health. In the nineteenth century much of that knowledge was written down.

In the twentieth century a large jamu industry arose. Well-known brands such as Nyonya Meneer, founded in 1919, and Sido Muncul turned jamu into a mass product. In 2023 UNESCO recognised “jamu wellness culture” as intangible heritage.

Jamu is about health in a broad sense: staying fit, being beautiful, recovering after childbirth and preventing illness. It is less a medicine for the sick than everyday care.

Jamu always consists of a mixture of herbs. A well-known recipe is kunyit asam, of turmeric and tamarind. Another is beras kencur, of rice and kencur.

Jamu is also connected with the Javanese idea of balance and harmony, between body and mind and between people and their surroundings.

Knowledge often passes from mother to daughter. A famous image is the jamu gendong: a woman who walks the streets with a basket full of bottles of jamu on her back, selling fresh jamu.

Jamu gendong is a home industry. The women make the drinks themselves, fresh every morning, with simple tools.

There are also large factories, herbal shops and jamu cafés in cities. Indonesia’s food and drug agency, BPOM, divides traditional remedies into three classes: jamu, standardised herbal medicines and phytopharmaceuticals, which have been clinically tested.

An important source is the Serat Centhini, written between 1814 and 1823 at the court of Surakarta. This great Javanese work contains hundreds of recipes for jamu, with dozens of plants, alongside prayers and incantations.

Other Javanese manuscripts, called primbon, also contain knowledge about jamu.

UNESCO’s 2023 recognition describes jamu as a living culture of wellbeing, shared by Indonesians of every background.

Jamu is still drunk daily in Indonesia, from a glass from a street vendor to packaged powders and capsules. There are modern jamu cafés and the industry is large.

The government encourages research into jamu, with the aim of putting more remedies on a scientific footing and including them in healthcare.

Jamu is also known outside Indonesia, including in the Netherlands through the Indo and Indonesian community.

The basis of jamu lies in rhizomes of the ginger family: turmeric (kunyit), temulawak, kencur, ginger (jahe) and galangal (lengkuas).

Leaves are used too, such as those of sirih (betel) and sambiloto, and spices such as cinnamon and cloves. Tamarind gives a sour taste.

Jamu is often sweetened with palm sugar or honey and sometimes mixed with an egg.

Jamu is a living, everyday culture of Indonesian families, especially of women. If you are interested, choose fair products.

Note: some packaged “jamu” has in the past been adulterated with drugs, such as anti-inflammatories or slimming agents. Buy only registered products.