AI-generated image
Barley water
Yì mǐ shuǐ (薏米水): pearl barley simmered with pandan and winter melon, served ice-cold
Ask for 'barley' at any drinks stall in a Singapore kopitiam and you get a tall glass of cloudy, faintly sweet barley water, the drink older relatives swear by on the hottest afternoons because it is said to cool the body. Home cooks simmer pearl barley for an hour with knotted pandan leaves, and in Teochew and Cantonese households chunks of winter melon go in as well for a gentle, cucumber-like sweetness. The result is light and clean, ideal beside a plate of chicken rice, char kway teow or anything greasy and salty. The usual mistake is boiling it hard, which turns the liquid starchy and slimy instead of smooth and pale; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: don't throw away the softened barley grains; spoon some into each glass, as the stalls do, or eat them warm with a little rock sugar as a light dessert.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 3 ½ oz pearl barley
- 8 ¼ cups water
- 4 pandan leaveswashed and tied into a knot
- 10 ½ oz winter melon (optional)peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
- 2 ⅞ oz rock sugaror white sugar, to taste
- 3 handfuls ice cubes
- 1 lime or calamansi (optional)sliced, for serving
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Rinse 3 ½ oz pearl barley in a sieve under cold water, rubbing the grains, until the water runs clear.
Step 2: Put the barley, 8 ¼ cups water and 4 pandan leaves in a large pot. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn down to a gentle simmer.
5 minStep 3: Simmer, partly covered, for 40 minutes, until the grains are swollen and soft and the liquid is pale and cloudy. Skim off any foam in the first 10 minutes.
40 minStep 4: Add 10 ½ oz winter melon if using and simmer for another 15 minutes, until translucent.
15 minStep 5: Stir in 2 ⅞ oz rock sugar until dissolved. Taste: it should be just sweet, not syrupy. Remove the pandan.
Step 6: Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 2 hours. Serve over 3 handfuls ice cubes with a few spoonfuls of the barley grains and a slice of 1 lime or calamansi if you like. Keeps 3 days in the fridge.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 90 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does barley water take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 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.
- What can I use instead of rock sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Power packApple, pear, kiwi and celery juice
A sweet, energising juice of apples, pears and kiwi fruit with a stick of celery, all used unpeeled for extra goodness. It's naturally sweet, so it needs no sugar. Serve well chilled.
Guava delightGuava, mango and banana drink
A thick, fragrant blend of ripe guava, mango and banana, boosted with a spoonful of guava powder from the health shop. The book calls it a modern-day vitality drink, drawing on guava's long use in traditional Indian medicine. Serve it well chilled; sieve it if you don't like the little guava seeds.
PingadoHot milk with coffee
Order 'um pingado' at the balcão of any São Paulo padaria at 7 in the morning and the attendant pours hot milk into a ridged glass tumbler (the copo americano) and 'drips' in a splash of strong coffee, hence the name. It is milkier and gentler than a média (half coffee, half milk), creamy and lightly sweet, usually drunk standing up with a pão na chapa, a toasted buttered roll. At home you need strong filter coffee and milk heated until steaming. Scalding the milk is the frequent mistake, as boiled milk tastes flat and forms a skin. Chef's tip: froth the hot milk for a few seconds with a whisk or by pouring it back and forth between two jugs before adding the coffee, as padaria machines do.
BrazilianPerfect for:Summer coolers