Vietnamese Artichoke Iced Tea

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Travelers exploring Hanoi on our food tour always see groups of locals on sidewalks across the city, sitting on little plastic stool, and sipping on their little glass of tea. Hanoian drinks black tea, herbal tea, and artichoke tea. In response to one of our travelers asking for how we make the artichoke iced tea, we would like to come out with this brief blog post.

For your information, artichoke tea is known as the “hangover cure” drink in Vietnam, due to its detoxifying properties. There are two versions of the tea. One that is sweet, nutty, yellow tea made from the artichoke flower. There other is hot bitter, black tea made from the artichoke stems.

The Vietnamese artichoke tea is said to be originated from Dat La, a city in the central highland in southern Vietnam. The French referred to Dat Lat as the “city of eternal spring”, reflecting its temperature climate and abundant vegetation. Due to the abundance of the artichoke plant available in the city, the Da Lat city’s symbol is an artichoke flower.

Artichoke iced tea

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 whole artichokes
  • 1 small bunch of fresh pandan leaves
  • 1 gallon (3,5 litters) of water
  • 2 tbsp of sugar

STEPS

  1. Tie the bunch of pandan leaves using cooking twine. A few droplets of pandan extract would work as well. If neither are easy to find, you can use 1 cup of jasmine tea with 2 droplets of vanilla extract.
  2. In a large pot, boil 1 gallon of water. Add the pandan leaves and 3 artichokes. Add 2 tbsp of sugar.
  3. After 10 min, reduce heat to low-medium and cover for 1 hour.
  4. Remove pandan and artichoke leaves.
  5. Turn off the heat and let cool.
  6. Serve into a tall glass with ice.

There you go. That’s how to make Vietnamese artichoke iced tea for 4 persons, with just about 10 minutes preparation and 1,5 hours of cooking time. We hope you enjoy your tea, and please contact us if there is anything we can help.

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