Imperata Root, Green Sugarcane & Carrot Drink

Why people make this drink

This is perhaps the most approachable of all Cantonese cooling drinks: three common, inexpensive ingredients that come together in under an hour into something genuinely refreshing. The combination is well known across generations — parents serve it to children after a measles or chicken pox recovery when the child is feverish and irritable; adults reach for it during hot weather or after a stretch of rich eating; and it appears regularly as a household remedy for the cluster of symptoms that Cantonese medicine labels “intestinal heat” — bad breath, scanty dark urine, constipation, restlessness at night, and nightmares.

The key ingredient is the green-skinned sugarcane (qing pi zhe), not the dark-purple-skinned variety. The green type is cooling and moistening; the dark type is warming and more tonifying — the two are not interchangeable for this purpose.

Method

1. Scrub the sugarcane’s outer skin with a brush under running water. Split each section lengthwise.
2. Cut the imperata root into sections; rinse thoroughly.
3. Peel and chunk the carrot.
4. Combine all ingredients in a pot with 6–7 cups of water.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes until the liquid reduces to about 4 cups.
6. Serve and drink the liquid. The sugarcane and carrot can be eaten as well if desired.

Nourilo’s Tips

When buying sugarcane, always inspect both cut ends before purchase. Healthy sugarcane is uniformly pale and clean-fleshed when cut; discard any piece with reddish or darkened flesh, or white cotton-like fibres inside — these indicate mould or bacterial fermentation and can cause food poisoning. The cooling effect of green sugarcane contrasts with the warming, tonifying dark-skinned variety: do not substitute one for the other. This drink is naturally sweet and very pleasant — even children drink it readily. Fresh knotgrass (xian shi hu) can be added to this drink for enhanced yin-nourishing benefit.