Herbatic Healthy & Vegetarian-Friendly Jamu Ice Cream

It was Elok Pawening Maharani, Sari Yuslia, Arif Sugianto, Anisa Dian Safitri, and Aryo Dwi Nugroho, students of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP, Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian) UGM who discovered the recipe for Herbatic Es Krim Jamu. In contrast to ice cream in general, apart from using jamu, the name Herbatic is an acronym for Herbal Nabati Ice Cream, therefore this jamu menu does not use animal elements and so it is vegetarian friendly. 

Sumber: https://www.ugm.ac.id/

Herbatic ice cream is not made from milk, but red bean juice and herbs. Peanut juice is used as a substitute for milk. The Herbatic team called their creations the right alternative solution that supports the diversification of local, plant-based foods for vegetarians.

Ingredients such as eggs, butter, and gelatin, which are commonly used in making ice cream are not used in making Herbatic ice cream. Butter is replaced with margarine, gelatin is replaced with cornstarch. Therefore, Herbatic can be ascertained vegetarian friendly.

The spices in Herbatic ice cream include ginger, temulawak (Java ginger, Curcuma zanthorrhiza), turmeric, and kencur (aromatic ginger, Kaempferia galangal). From the spices, Herbatic contains active substances of essential oils, zingerone, antimicrobial, antioxidant, polyphenols, curcumin, geraniol, alkaloids, and shogaol.

These substances have healthy effects to our body. Zingerone in ginger is able to prevent intestinal inflammation, because it can inhibit enzymes that can trigger inflammation. Polyphenols are believed to be able to lower blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of cancer. Curcumin has properties similar to zingerone, namely anti-inflammatory. Even more, curcumin is also high in anti-oxidants, lowers the risk of heart disease, and fights depression.

Sumber: https://newherbatic.blogspot.com/

The use of red bean juice in Herbatic ice cream is claimed to make the product have a very low glycemic index, namely, 22-32. This makes herbatic a safe food solution for diabetics. One of the Herbatic makers, Sari Yuslia, revealed that red beans and herbs are digested slowly, causing blood sugar levels to increase slowly. The effect is that less insulin is needed than other carbohydrate-rich foods.

How to Make Herbatic Ice Cream?

Herbatic was first introduced in 2012. According to UGM’s official website, at that time, Herbatic was only sold on a limited basis. At that time, Herbatic was sold for Rp. 3500 per cup. The Jamupedia editorial team could not find any latest information regarding the sale of Herbatic, but Jamupedia friends should not discouraged. The Herbatic team has shared their tips on making Herbatic ice cream.

Sumber: herbatic-blog.tumblr.com

Initially we have to prepare ingredients such as red beans, margarine, sugar, agar powder, vanilla, salt, ginger, temulawak temulawak (Java ginger, Curcuma zanthorrhiza), kencur (aromatic ginger, Kaempferia galangal), turmeric, tamarind, and secang (sappanwood, Biancaea sappan). The first step is to boil the red beans to extract the juice.

Next, the red bean juice is mixed with other ingredients, including spices. Herbatic team did not share the recipe explicitly. The dose of the use of spices is adjusted to the wishes or tastes of each person making the ice cream. For 800 ml of red bean juice, 150 grams of sugar, and other ingredients, you can have approximately 20 of Herbatic in 90 ml-size cups.

Curious about what a cup Herbatic looks like? Now Jamupedia Friends can always try to make it and feel the benefits for yourself.