Monday, August 3, 2009

Tukang Es Cincau (Leaf Jelly man)

Cincau is one of the favorite drinks in Indonesia, although sometimes it's considered as a dessert.

Cincau is actually jelly made from leaf. There are 2 kind of cincau, the black cincau (cincau hitam) made from Janggelan leaf (Latin name: Mesona palustris BL) and boiling process and the green cincau (cincau hijau) made from leaf called Cincau Hijau/Rambat (Latin name: Cyclea barbata L Miers) and without boiling process.


This cincau vendor is selling green cincau.


Drinking es cincau hijau is believed to give some good benefits for health because it has a cooling effect to the body especially during the hot days. It also contains of high fiber (6.23 gram per 100 gram), can reduce high blood pressure and also good for sore throat.

With coconut milk and shaved ice on the es cincau.

Then add with brown sugar syrup (gula jawa).
Other vendors might use rose syrup or pandan leaves syrup.

It's very nice refreshing to drink es cincau hijau. It tasted chewy, springier, creamy and sweet :)

69 comments:

  1. Never seen this before. You have access to so many streets vendors.

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  2. normally here we have black cincau....green cincau i've not seen so far...

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  3. Green cincau? Never seen before. :)

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  4. helene: Can consider that Indonesia is like a paradise of street food :)

    simplegirl: you can make green cincau by yourself if you have the plant ;) My mom does.

    little inbox: I like green cincau better than the black one :)

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  5. email2me: Well, usually they will use rose syrup instead of brown sugar syrup, not so sure why this vendor is using brown sugar syrup.

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  6. Had it in Bogor, without the coconut's milk and brown sugar. Very nice and refreshing for the hot day.

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  7. worldwindows: it tasted better than the black one, right? ;)

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  8. Sure like to try the texture of the green cincau. Looks deliciously creamy and sweet :)

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  9. ck lam: if you visit Indonesia, give it a try, I think you will like it :)

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  10. this is something new to me, i wonder if we can get them here :p thanks for showing us ;-)

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  11. I want jelly dont want the man! lol!

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  12. babe_kl: you know, if you can get the leaf of cincau hijau, you can make it by yourself, it's very easy but a bit of labor ;)

    BBO: Hahaha... who wants the man?

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  13. Interesting! Thks for the lesson of its origins! I didnt knw its made frm grass..errr leaf??
    The cincau frm yr pic looks kinda different frm our cincau here. Yours looks more "chewy, springier"?

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  14. Never try green one before. How's the green one taste like?

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  15. TNG: hahaha.. not grass but leaf! My mom has the plants in our garden roof :)
    Yes... chewy and springier... I should add that word, thanks!

    food paradise: green cincau tasted almost the same like jelly i.e: jell-o, it has softer texture than the black cincau.

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  16. That looks and sounds really interesting!

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  17. Wow, that's some pretty cool stuff. I've never seen a jelly leaf, but I'd be willing to try on a hot day :) You should do a post about rose syrup, I'm interested!

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  18. lesley: Hahaha.. no worries, for me, interesting doesn't mean in a negative way ;)

    adam: I hope that you will have a chance to try the jelly leaf, it seriously yummy and good for your health :)

    Oh... about the rose syrup, it's made from the extract of rose petals and white sugar. Hopefully, I will be able to post about it someday, just wait and see ;)

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  19. I've never seen this green cincau - looks very neat! I would so love to try it!

    Those plates at O Ya are gorgeous - how cool that you have the same one at home! I saw them going through your posts, excellent!

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  20. I love reading your blog, I always learn new things :)

    xxx

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  21. 5 star foodie: Hope that you can try it someday :)

    I was really surprised when I saw the same chinaware plate of mine at your current post in the Japanese restaurant coz' it's considered as classic and also very expensive. They don't afraid if a customer or a waiter might break it? Hehehe... It's made in Belgium.

    dustjacket attic: Thank you, Dustjacket Attic. I'm so happy whenever I hear a reader learn new things from my blog :)

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  22. I have never seen anything like this before, but that's one of the reasons I love to come here. I learn something new almost every visit.

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  23. you should start a street food fare in singapore, lol. bring all these vendors over.

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  24. Wow! What a cool drink! I'd love to try it. :0)

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  25. I forgot to say that my son says this looks like a Yoda Soda from his Star Wars Cookbook!

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  26. mary: Mary, thank you so much for you kind and positive words, it really gives me big encouragement and also more motivation to share "my world" to the readers in this blog :)

    mistipurple: I wish I could make it come true :)

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  27. the ungourmet: Hahaha... yeah, it kinda look like Yoda Soda because of the green color and shaved ice on the top :)

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  28. I must admit the drink looks strange, but nonetheless inviting, I wish I had a glass right now darling.

    Duchess xx

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  29. I've never seen anything like this! It looks incredibly delicious and refreshing!

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  30. Wow, that is a really bizarre looking drink! I'd definitely give it a try though!

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  31. I love to see and read about all the foods you find. Very interesting.

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  32. Oh that just looks divine! How come Malaysian cincau drink sellers never thought of mixing the cincau with coconut milk? (We mix ours with soybean milk instead.)

    Yums!

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  33. oh there IS a green version?
    that's new, as we have them black here.

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  34. Duchess of Tea: I think you will like it, it's nice especially on a hot day :)

    faith: With or without the coconut milk, it's really refreshing because it's cool down our body :)

    mica: Hahaha... I know that it kinda look like a drink out of the space!

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  35. FwLT: Glad that you love the food in here :)

    LfB: soybean? with cincau? now, that's so new to me! :D

    j2kfm: yes, green version and even the green one has 2 kind of types ;)

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  36. Its time you complete your conpilation of

    selby's delights 2010

    a delicious summary of all your top delights of Indonesia,like this one ...

    & also a subsection on
    KL dreams ( means visiting bsg ), followed by your next booklet called Malaysian Hopes and Desserts

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  37. This looks like something I'm goin to love♥!

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  38. we usually get the black cincau here. green definitely looks more refreshing! i wanna try! :)

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  39. I see lots of black grass jelly in my area but rarely see green! The addition of coconut milk and syrup sounds interesting.

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  40. The Duchess of Tea has bestowed a title upon you. Her Grace requests the honour of your presence at the knighting ceremony to be held at Rose Tea Cottage.

    I will be honoured if you accept the award I am presenting to you by copy and pasting it on your blog.

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  41. Oh how interesting. I wish we had that here in the US. I've never heard of that drink, let alone seen it. It looks beautiful!

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  42. BSG: Wow! Never ever crossed my mind to do it except for the part of the "KL dreams" ;) The answer will be... definitely a YES!!! Hehehe.

    foodbin: Absolutely :D

    peachkins: I bet you do! ;)

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  43. The green cincau is new to me! Looks like cendols in Msia.

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  44. first time seeing green cincau!! over there do they take cincau with soya bean?

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  45. nic: wanna try green cincau? then you gotta fly to jakarta ;)

    ETE: have you tried the black grass jelly? my mom like to buy the black one although sometimes we make the green one at home :)

    DoT: Thank you so much, Duchess! I already went to your blog to join the knighting ceremony, it's beautiful :)

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  46. debbie: probably Indonesian restaurants in the US are serving it :)

    FFT: cendol is more like "green worm", green cincau is taken with a spoon :)

    buzzingbee: no soybean at all, actually I just knew from one of the comment in here that in Msia, people drink it with soybean :)

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  47. A paradise of food vendors for sure. I thought NYC had many! I would definitely give this drink a try. Thanks for sharing Selba. Your posts are so fascinating!!!

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  48. Hooray for me, I found you. What a beautiful blog. My favorite thing about blogging is to indulge my interests in history, culture, religion and travel. I can't travel anymore so I am enjoying all my blogs from different countries. I would be honored to follow your blog and invite you to visit me in Kentucky.USA.
    I found you through Duchess of Tea, as she passed her shared her award with me. Blessings
    QMM

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  49. louise: Thank you for you kind words, Louise :) I'm curious, what kind of food vendors does NYC have? If not mistaken, there're hot dog vendors and ice cream cones, right?

    QMM: Hi Queenmothermamaw, thank you for dropping by my blog. It's nice to know you and it also become my honor to have you following my blog. I would be happy to visit your blog in return :)

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  50. I love your posts about the street vendor food. I so wish I had access to all that Indonesian 'manna' here! That drink looks so refreshing..and I've never tried (at least I don't think I have) cincau before. When I can get into the city (NYC), I'll look for it :)

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  51. Hi Selby!

    Wow, what an interesting drink! I love that color of green. And it has health benefits too? Thanks for sharing. I love looking at the food where you live!

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  52. lisa michelle: thank you, Lisa :) Hopefully you can get the cincau in NYC!

    jenn: yes, many health benefits, more than mentioned in here actually :)

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  53. Refreshing chewiness for the tropical heat :)

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  54. Man, i need a cup given of 'em cincau given the weather that we've been having of late.

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  55. MTC: :) And I believe you will love it!

    marta: Yes, you are totally right :D

    unkaleong: Hehehe... I wish I could UPS the green cincau to Msia!

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  56. Hey I've tasted this. I've always thought its called chinchau. hehe Yes its very refreshing and I remember enjoying it, a lot!

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  57. Nothing like a chinchau dessert or drink on a hot, humid day. Really refreshing and I don't believe I've ever seen a green one yet. We usually have the black one here in Singapore.

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  58. laveena: Yay! Good to know that you enjoyed drinking it a lot :) Next time when you come to visit Jakarta, don't forget to order it again ;)

    jo: Oh, there's no green cincau at all in Singapore? Maybe at the Indonesian restaurants? ;)

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  59. I learn so many fascinating things about your culture and food here. I love to visit your blog Selba!

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  60. lori: I'm so pleased to hear that you love to visit my blog and can learn about the culture and food :)

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  61. that cincau hijau is a lil too GREEN for my liking!

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  62. cumi & ciki: Hehehe... but green is good, no?

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  63. What a cool drink - it looks super refreshing!

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  64. kerstin: it is refreshing indeed ;)

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  65. i want to try it , but our country hard to find it ....

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