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Salabat
Hot ginger tea
Salabat: Filipino hot ginger tea with brown sugar
Salabat is the Filipino early-morning cup, simmered in homes from Luzon to Mindanao when the weather turns cool or a sore throat threatens, and drunk with bibingka and puto bumbong outside churches during the Christmas dawn masses. It is just ginger, water and dark sugar, but the ginger has to be bashed to release its heat. The mistake is slicing the ginger thinly and boiling briefly; you get a pale, weak tea. Crush it and simmer it properly. Chef's tip: leave the skin on young ginger, scrub it well and smash it with the flat of a cleaver, which gives a stronger, rounder heat.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 3 ½ oz fresh gingerscrubbed and smashed
- 1.2 litres water
- 4 tbsp dark brown sugar (muscovado)or to taste
- 1 tbsp calamansi or lime juice (optional)
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Method
0/3 doneStep 1: Put 3 ½ oz fresh ginger and 1.2 litres water in a pan and bring to the boil.
Step 2: Simmer over a low heat for 12–15 minutes, until the water is pale gold and tastes strongly of ginger.
15 minStep 3: Stir in 4 tbsp dark brown sugar (muscovado) until dissolved, then strain into cups. Add a squeeze of 1 tbsp calamansi or lime juice if you like and drink hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 45 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 11 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does salabat take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of fresh ginger?
- ¼ tsp ground ginger per tbsp fresh (add it with the spices).
- What can I use instead of dark brown sugar (muscovado)?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
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