What to eat to beat the heat II

It's been blowing hot and cold in Hong Kong over the last few weeks. After a depressing two weeks of downpour which even caused a flood on our little road on the hill, we had a week of brilliant sunshine and now, rain again. This has really just been too confusing for my body. It's either wet or hot outside, but once indoors, it's just humid, stuffy and warm. That's summer heat for you.

C's got it way worse cos of her sinus. If it's going to be hotter the next day, she gets the sniffles; if it's going to pour the next morning, her nose just runs. She's like a walking meterology report, with high degree of accuracy too! We just always check with her before we go out to see if we need to bring an umbrella.

Anyway, it's time to beat the summer heatiness again. This time with a luohan drink.

It's really a pretty fascinating fruit. Luohan guo is so named as it grows well in Guilin where many arhats (luohans) go for their temple retreats - they were purportedly the first to use the fruit for its medicinal purposes. The fruits were reported to be frequently used as the main ingredient in cooling drinks (that is, drinks consumed to counteract hot weather, fever, or disorders described in the tradition as warm or hot in nature). It's believed to do anything from relieving sunstroke, moistening the lungs, eliminating phlegm, stopping cough, and promoting bowel movements.



It's a strange looking fruit which looks even stranger on the inside. But it's got an incredible sweetness to it that it lends to any drink made with it as an ingredient. (luohan guo is also now also used as an artificial sweetener)



Luohan Guo Drink

2 luohan guo
handful of dates*
handful of wolfsberry*
2-3 sticks of sugared winter melon
1.5 litres of water

* use red dates and wolfsberry sparingly as they are heaty in nature

1. Crack open the luohan guos and dig out the insides.
2. Boil the insides, with dates and wolfsberry for around an hour
3. Serve (the drink is naturally sweet, but you may add the winter melon sticks for extra depth if you like)

It's a lovely drink. And apparently very good for you too according to Eu Yan Sang as it "influences the lung and spleen channels. Moistens the lungs and dissolves nodules. Commonly used to treat hacking cough and phlegm nodules in the neck."