As a tropical country that enjoys hot and humid temperatures all year long, Indonesia has many fresh cold drink recipes. Drinks are often made with sweet fruits and fresh vegetables. Additional ingredients such as agar-agar jelly or cooked starchy roots, sweetened with syrup, condensed milk or palm sugar are also common. Ice cubes or shaved ice are important and often used as the base of the cold drink.
Es is the Indonesian word for ice and it is a term used to refer to frozen dishes (such as plain ice, popsicles or ice cream). It also refers to any cold drink served with ice (cracked, cubes or shaved). So if you add the word es when you order a drink, it will surely come with ice in it, for example: es kopi (iced coffee), es teh (iced tea), es kacang hijau, es kunyit asam, etc.
Es timun, or “cucumber with ice”, is a cool refreshing drink made of grated cucumber, lime juice and liquid sugar. It’s a thirst quencher and the perfect drink for summer or the dry season, when the weather is scorching hot. Cucumber promotes hydration and is low in calories. It also contains soluble fiber which can stimulate the bowels and is said to contain pectin that could potentially help reduce blood cholesterol level.
With all those health benefits, no wonder es timun is popular in Indonesia. It is often found in Padang restaurants, where rich and sinful dishes are served. Es timun is also often prepared during Ramadan to provide sugar and hydration after the day’s fast. The drink is very easy to prepare, but it’s delicious and cooling. To make it even healthier, add chia seeds (for extra crunch). You can reduce the amount of sugar ccording to your liking.
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Es Timun: Iced Cucumber and Lime Drink (Vegan)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Indonesian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Es timun is a healthy, refreshing drink to cool you down when the weather’s too hot. It’s quick and easy to prepare and contains all the benefits of cucumber and lime.
Ingredients
- 1 small cucumber (around 150 gr)
- 1 lime
- 5 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 glasses cold drinking water
Instructions
- Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, set aside to cool.
- Cut and remove both ends of the cucumber, remove the seeds if necessary, and wash it thoroughly.
- Grate the cucumber.
- In a glass bowl or a jug, put the grated cucumber and then squeeze the lime all over it.
- Add the sugar syrup.
- Add the cold water.
- Stir all the ingredients, and then chill in the fridge.
- Serve cold with some ice cubes.
Notes
- In this recipe, I used Japanese cucumber, which doesn’t contain a lot of seeds. If other types of cucumber with a lot of seeds are used, scrape the seeds using a spoon to remove.
- The liquid sugar can also be replaced with (green coloured) syrup (melon syrup is the most common one), but I frankly like the clean taste of dissolved sugar.
- Chill the drink in the fridge for a while before serving to let all the ingredients nicely infuse.
- Adjust the amount of sugar and lime juice according to your liking.
Keywords: Quick and easy, healthy, common ingredients
