Arhat fruit tea
Arhat fruit, which is actually a gourd, is also known as monk’s fruit and the name can be traced back through history.
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Good food diaries: A different kind of sweet? |
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Recipe: Arhat fruit tea? |
As story goes, during the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), Guilin was one of the most important Buddhist retreats in China. The fruit, long treasured for its health benefits,
was named after a group of Buddhist monks who, after a life of contemplation and meditation, finally achieved enlightenment. From then on, they are known as luohan, or arhats.
The reason the luohan guo is now hailed by the health conscious is that the extract of the fruit is almost 300 times sweeter than sugar and holds very little calories. It is a natural sugar substitute.
In traditional Chinese pharmacology, the fruit is known for its ability to balance inner heat. Better than that, it is also used in herbal cough medicines, especially for chronic coughs, throat inflammations and constipation.
As an infusion, it quenches thirst, and in high summer, it is also used to treat heat stroke. It is also a good sugar substitute in drinks, cakes, candies and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetes and obesity.
