Saturday, March 15, 2014

Recipe: Roselle juice (Homemade "Ribena" drink)

The weather in KL recently has been super hot, and coupled with the haze, we find ourselves more vulnerable and easily falling sick. It is important to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as drinking lots of water to boost our immune system and keep ourselves healthy.



Roselle is high in vitamin C and anthocyanins. We managed to harvest a large amount of roselle calyx from our garden, so I made roselle juice for my kids once every couple of days - so happy!


I used to add caster sugar to sweeten the juice (and some honey later on), but I have recently switched to using rock sugar 冰糖 (which the Chinese believe to have medicinal properties), and the resulting roselle juice tastes just like Ribena. It is slightly sweeter than my other version (using caster sugar), however I have to say this tastes a lot nicer. It is important not to boil it for too long, or else the juice will taste quite concentrated and sour.


Please see this post for my roselle jam recipe.


Roselle juice (Homemade "Ribena" drink)
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Makes 2l

Ingredients
20 roselle calyx
80-100g rock sugar 冰糖
2l water



1. Firstly, peel the seed out of the calyx. You can just use your fingers but be careful as some parts of the seeds are prickly.

2. Place roselle and water in a large pot and boil over medium high heat for 15-20 minutes. The longer you boil it, the more concentrated the juice will taste.

3. Stir in sugar, to taste. Once dissolved, remove from heat.

4. Allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge and serve with lots of ice cubes.




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18 comments:

  1. Love your refreshing home made roselle drink! Wish I could find more fresh roselle here... its usually the dried ones we have here.

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  2. this would be perfect for my sister ... she has loved ribena since she was five years old! looks deliciously refreshing :D

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  3. This looks and sounds lovely and refreshing!

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  4. Lorraine Not Quite NigellaMarch 16, 2014 at 7:16 AM

    That's wonderful that ou can harvest them from your garden! I've tried to buy some but they were so expensive.

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  5. This is truly homemade with fruits harvested from your own garden, how nice :)

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  6. Hi Yen, you have wonderful harvest!

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  7. Hi Yen,
    Now i can feel my throat slighly uncomfotable, wish I can have a glass of fresh Roselle juice from you right now. I definately will keep an eye to yor next week roselle jam sharing .he...........

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  8. Awesome! Just the perfect thirst-quencher for this tropical heat!

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  9. Ribena? Not rose syrup? Always thought Ribena's blackcurrant... Love it with 7Up plus a slcie of lemon though normally, I don't go for fizzy drinks.

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    Replies
    1. Ribena is indeed made with blackcurrants, but roselle juice taste very similar to Ribena.

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  10. Hi Yen,
    What a great beverage for this super HOT weather!!
    My kids love this too!
    mui

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  11. The weather here also super hot! I make some lemonade last sat, hehe.

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  12. Yen, when I was a teenager (back in the 80's) this roselle fruit and juice was quite the rage. They called it ribena plant. A neighbour introduced us to it and I wonder if my dad still has the plant. I think it is quite decorative.

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    Replies
    1. Even when we were trying to purchase the plant, we had to tell the nursery we were looking for "ribena plant". If u need seeds, let me know.

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  13. How hot is it there now? When I was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the hottest day was still 27C or so. This is my first time seeing or even hearing roselle calyx before. It's has very pretty color!

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    Replies
    1. It's 28C at the moment, but for a few weeks it was around 35-38C. It was so hot that we couldn't spend more than 2 mins outside without getting soaking wet.

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  14. Roselle is so cheap in Thailand.I brough some for my family in Wales every year.

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