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A Calming Cup from the Land of the Morning Calm
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Bori cha: good - apparently - for what ails you.
Bori cha fits the bill quite nicely. Incredibly simple, bori cha is a traditional Korean tisane made from roasted barley. Earthy and nutty, it’s easy to make, delicious, and Koreans believe it aids digestion and— I didn’t know this until reading it just now—constipation. Good to know.
Go to any Korean restaurant, and they’re likely to bring you a pot of bori cha rather than black tea (Unlike their neighbors China and Japan, Korea has never been a huge tea-drinking nation). It’s one of my favorite elements of the Korean meal.
All that aside, however, bori cha is simply good. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a town with a sizeable Korean community, you may have a Korean grocery store nearby where you can buy bags of roasted barley specifically for bori cha. Otherwise, you can toast your own unhulled barley until it’s a dark, almost coffee brown. Then, it’s ready to use.
To make bori cha, you’ll need:
¼ cup roasted, unhulled barley
1 quart water
- Bring the water to a boil in a small pot, and then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the barley and continue to simmer for around 20 minutes. Don’t let the water boil again as that tends to make the tea unpleasantly bitter. Strain out the barley, and it’s ready to drink.
Whether you're new to Korean cuisine or a longtime afficianado, the Korean Restaurant Guide is a great source for finding Korean-style, as well as Korean-owned, restaurants around the United States. Korean Feast, by author Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall, offers a list of Korean grocery stores throughout the country, although it doesn't list my favorite store here in San Francisco.
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