[Thailand Recipes] Hot Ginger Tea (Nam King)

The boyfriend and I are big fans of home-brewed hot ginger tea. Whenever I make this tea, the spicy aroma of ginger permeates the air and fills my lungs. It leaves behind the slightest tingling sensation in the back of my throat, just enough to enliven my senses, while still being pleasant. At least, that’s what I thought…

But judging from the reaction of a good friend who was visiting when I was brewing this tea last, you’d think that I was concocting some sort of biohazardous substance in my kitchen… He took one breath and dissolved into a coughing fit, complete with watery eyes and everything!

Our ginger tea is, admittedly, quite strong…

We start with a whole lot of ginger, generally around 3-4 large pieces of this potent rhizome. We slice the ginger knobs, with the skin intact, into 2-3 inch rounds before pounding them into submission with a meat mallet. This step helps to release the flavorful juices of the ginger (in addition to helping relieve your own stress).

These pounded pieces are then boiled in water for around an hour, until the liquid is a beautiful amber color. You can increase or decrease the length of boiling time to suit your own tastes, but around an hour results in a quite strong ginger tea, which is exactly what the boyfriend and I like. This tea is great on its own and even better with a little palm sugar added to tame the bite. It pairs nicely with Chinese pastries in the morning or can be combined with silken tofu to make a sweet treat.

I don’t know, maybe our friend’s reaction is justified. This is a strong ginger tea…. Then again, this is the same guy who has to step out onto the balcony whenever I cook with a lone Thai chili pepper :)

Hot Ginger Tea | Nam King | น้ำขิง

Makes 10 cups

INGREDIENTS

2 cups ginger, sliced into rounds
10-12 cups water
palm sugar to taste (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash your ginger thoroughly, scrubbing the skin vigorously to remove any residual dirt.

Slice the ginger into 2-3 inch rounds. Using a mallet, pound the ginger pieces until they begin to release their juices. You should have roughly 2 cups of this pounded ginger.

Add the pounded ginger and any released juice to a large pot and cover with 10-12 cups of cold water. Place on the stove and allow to boil for approximately 30 minutes. Then turn the heat down to a medium heat and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes. If too much water evaporates during this process, feel free to add more, according to your taste preferences.

Pour the ginger tea through a fine mesh strainer to remove all ginger particles. Serve warm, with or without a sweetener such as palm sugar.

This recipe and image sources are reffered in website: Rachelcooksthai.com. Thanks so much!