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Herbs & Cultures

Jamu in Indonesia →

Beras kencur

A creamy jamu of soaked rice and kencur, the Javanese pick-me-up.

Traditional use

Time
30 minutes, plus 3 hours soaking
Makes
About 1 litre
Image of Beras kencur
Mallory Cessair · CC BY-SA 4.0

Beras kencur (rice and kencur) is the best-known jamu after kunyit asam. In Java it is drunk to stimulate the appetite and when tired after hard work. Kencur, a relative of ginger with a camphor-like scent, gives the flavour; the rice makes it soft and milky.

Ingredients

  • 50 g white rice
  • 50 g fresh kencur (or 1 tbsp dried powder)
  • A small piece of ginger
  • 100 g palm sugar
  • 1 litre water
  • A pinch of salt

Step by step

  1. Soak the rice in water for at least 3 hours and drain.
  2. Bring a litre of water to the boil with the palm sugar and salt and leave to cool.
  3. Purée the rice, kencur and ginger finely with some of the sugar water.
  4. Mix with the rest of the water, strain through a fine cloth and drink lukewarm or cold.

Tips

  • Kencur is also called lesser galangal; you can find it fresh in Asian shops, otherwise as a powder.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Asia · Food · № 267

    Rice

    Oryza sativa

    Traditionally attributed effects: easily digestible, the basis of healing food; good for skin and hair.

    Ayurveda+4Folklore
  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 830

    Kencur (aromatic ginger)

    Kaempferia galanga

    An aromatic rhizome used in jamu for coughs, tiredness and muscle pain.

    Chinese medical traditions+1
  • Caution

    Asia · Herb · № 1

    Ginger

    Zingiber officinale

    Traditionally used for nausea and digestive discomfort; it has a warming flavor.

    Ayurveda+6Folklore

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.