Tamarind juice (also tamarind water) is a liquid extract of the

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

(''Tamarindus indica'') tree fruit, produced by squeezing, mixing and sometimes boiling tamarind fruit pulp. Tamarind juice can be consumed as beverage appreciated for its fresh

sour The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

taste, or used for culinary purpose as a sour

flavouring A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive that is used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of ...

agent. The recent development uses tamarind juice as a mixture in

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

As beverage

The juice of tamarind fruit is produced by squeezing and mixing the pulp of tamarind fruit with water. Sometimes the process also include the boiling of tamarind pulp to further extracting the tamarind fruit essence. Then the mixed liquid is sieved to separate the juice from tamarind seeds, fibers and bits of fruit shell. The sour-tasting tamarind juice is often sweetened with the addition of liquid

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar may be qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed simila ...

and often served with ice. In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, tamarind juice is called ''air asem'' (tamarind water), ''es asem'' (tamarind ice) or ''gula asem'' (sugared tamarind). It is a popular traditional drink in Java, which is mixed with ''gula jawa'' or ''gula aren'' (palm sugar). It is also often served as fresh and sour palate cleansing drink after consuming often bitter tasting Javanese ''

jamu Jamu ( Javanese: ) is a traditional medicine from Indonesia. It is predominantly a herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as roots, bark, flowers, seeds, leaves and fruits. Materials acquired from animals, such as honey, royal jell ...

'' herbal drinks. In Indonesia, tamarind juice is also produced industrially as UHT packed drink marketed as healthy drink ''sari asem asli'' or real tamarind juice. There are also commercially mass-produced canned and bottled tamarind juice, offered especially in Asian

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

. In

Turkish cuisine Turkish cuisine () is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman cuisine (Osmanlı mutfağı), European influences, Seljuk Empire, Seljuk cuisine and the Turkish diaspora. Turkish cuisine with traditional Turkic peoples, Turkic elements s ...

, tamarind juice is known as ''demirhindi şerbeti'' which is tamarind made into

sharbat Sharbat may refer to: * Sharbat (drink), a Middle Eastern variety of cordial * Sharbat Ali Changezi, Pakistani fighter pilot * Sharbat Gula, the subject of the ''Afghan Girl'' cover photograph on the front cover of ''National Geographic'' maga ...

beverage. In

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and other

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

countries, tamarind juice is known as ''agua de tamarindo'' or "tamarind water". It is one of the most common ''

agua fresca ''Aguas frescas'' () or ''frescos'' or ''aguas'', are light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water. They are popular in many Latin American countries, as well as parts ...

'' variant in Mexico.

Culinary use

The juice of tamarind fruit pulp is often used as sour flavouring agent akin to

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

in several Asian culinary traditions; e.g.

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, Thai and

Indian cuisine Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...

. In Indonesian cuisine, tamarind juice is an essential ingredients as a mixture in

peanut sauce Peanut sauce, satay sauce (saté sauce), ''bumbu kacang'', ''sambal kacang'', or ''pecel'' is an Indonesian cuisine, Indonesian sauce made from ground roasted or fried peanuts, widely used in Indonesian cuisine and many other dishes throughout t ...

for ''

gado-gado ''Gado-gado'' ( Indonesian or Betawi) is an Indonesian salad of raw, slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, boiled potato, fried tofu and tempeh, and sliced ''lontong'' (compressed cylinder rice cake wrapped ...

'' and ''

pecel Pecel (, Javanese:ꦥꦼꦕꦼꦭ꧀) is a traditional Javanese salad with peanut sauce, usually eaten with steamed rice, ''lontong'' or '' ketupat''. The simplicity of its preparation and cheap price has contributed to its popularity throug ...

'' salad. It is also essential flavouring agent in ''

asam pedas Asam pedas ( Malay for "sour spicy"; ) is a traditional sour and spicy '' gulai'' commonly found in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The dish is typically associated with Malay, Minangkabau, Acehnese and Per ...

'' and ''

pindang Pindang refers to a cooking method in the Indonesian and Malay language of boiling ingredients in brine or acidic solutions. Usually employed to cook fish or egg, the technique is native to Sumatra especially in Palembang, but has spread to Java ...

'' fish stew and ''

sayur asem Sayur asem or sayur asam is an Indonesian vegetable soup. It is a popular Southeast Asian dish originating from Sundanese cuisine, consisting of vegetables in tamarind soup. The sweet and sour flavour of this dish is considered refreshing and v ...

'' vegetable in tamarind soup. Tom khlong

In the flavour of Thai cuisine, the distinctive sourness does not derive from vinegar or lime juice, but through the use of tamarind juice. It is used as a sour flavouring ingredient in ''

pad thai Pad Thai ( or ; , , ISO: ''p̄hạd thịy'', ), also spelled phat Thai or phad Thai, is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food in Thailand as part of the country's cuisine. It is typically made with rice noodles, shrim ...

'' rice noodle, ''

tom khlong ''Tom khlong'' (, ) is a sour and spicy soup with smoked dried fish and various herbs. Description ''Tom khlong'' is a traditional Thai dish similar to '' tom yum'' except that it uses herbs which have been dried or roasted. There is an alter ...

'' spicy sour soup and '' kaeng som kung'' sour fish curry. In Indian cuisine, tamarind juice is often made into pulp, mixed with

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

and used as flavouring agent for side dishes or condiment.

References

External links

{{Indonesian cuisine Fruit juice Fruit drinks

As beverage

Culinary use

See also

References

External links