GINSENG TEA (INSAM CHA)

Easy Korean ginseng tea recipe!

I bought some ginseng to make some tea and it seem to work well. Ginseng (Insam, 인삼) is quite expensive even in Korea, I bought 2 roots of ginseng – 106 g for 6,360 won (US $6.70) It was 6000 won per 100g.

THE MAIN BENEFITS OF GINSENG

• Improving the immune system.
• Relaxing the nervous system.
• Recovering strength.

INGREDIENTS FOR GINSENG TEA (SERVES 10)

• 50 g  ginseng (I used fresh ginseng, not dried ginseng)
• 5 dried jujube
• 2.5 L water (Apparently you need 500ml of water per every 10g of ginseng, so you can adjust it yourself)
• 1 tsp honey (per 1 cup of tea)

HOW TO MAKE GINSENG TEA

1. Rinse the ginseng, scrub the dirt with a cloth as needed.

2. Rinse the dried jujube.

3. Put the water into a pot. Add the ginseng and Chinese dates.

4. Boil/Simmer it on low heat for 20-25 minutes.

5. Serve.

HOW TO SERVE GINSENG TEA

1. Put the honey in a cup/mug.
2. Scoop or pour the ginseng boiled water in.
3. Hold the ginseng with tongs and cut the ginseng and Chinese dates with scissors. (I cut 3 small pieces of ginseng and 1/2 a Chinese date for 1 cup of tea, so you can make about 10 cups of tea)
4. Stir it with a tea spoon and drink it. (You can feel that your body is warming up within 1 minute.)

Since I boiled 2.5 L of tea, I reboiled several times to finish it up. (It gave me about 10 cups of tea total)

By the way, ginseng isn’t good for everyone. People who have warm character body type according to “Sasang constitutional medicine” need to be more careful taking it. I am one of those people, so I don’t have ginseng. So I recommend you consult with a herbal (oriental) doctor first before you take ginseng.