28 February 2020 – Today is a special day for Darmasiswa students in Lembaga Bahasa Universitas Sanata Dharma (LBUSD). They had a chance to make traditional Javenese medicine or we often called it jamu. They were very lucky because they learned how to make jamu from the traditional maker. Bu Jum was the jamu maker and she used traditional method on making it. She came to LBUSD and brought the tools which are needed for this jamu tutorial session. There are several tools that were used to make jamu such as, alu and lumpang. Alu is the smasher to smash the ingredients. It is made from wood. Lumpang is the place to smash the ingredients. It is made from the stone.
Kind of jamu that will be made called beras kencur (rice and white ginger) and kunyit asem (sour tamarind). The first jamu that they made was jamu beras kencur. It was started by smashing the white ginger into the lumpang using alu until it is soft. It was mixed with the rice. Then, it was mixed with melted palm sugar water. Using a big washbasin, the mashed ingredients were put into strainer and the melted palm sugar water was poured into it. They still have to squeeze the mixed ingredients to get the strong taste of it. After that, they can put the water in the glass to have a drink. The similar process also occurred in making jamu kunyit asem. The different was just the ingredients. Jamu kunyit asem needs tamarind and turmeric.
Enjoy your jamu friends, it is good for your health.