Page 78 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

cheaper alternative to the so-called white rice. As with all rice that is not polished, its husk is
particularly rich in vitamin B1 and is useful in treating certain complaints. Red rice is particularly
effective in treating upset and bloated stomachs. The medicinal qualities are brought out by roasting
(note: not frying) two dessert spoons of red rice and then steeping this in a glass of boiling water.
When the water has turned a rich shade of red, the liquid is ready to drink.

Charles Ong, President Director of Nyonya Meneer, is so convinced of its
efficacy he was prepared to publicly support clinical trial evidence that showed a
combination of turmeric and temu lawak relieved the symptoms of rheumatism.
Along with sidowayah (grandchild’s arrival; Woodfordia fruticosa), kunci pepet
(white turmeric; Kaempferia rotunda) (a cooling turmeric containing cineol) and
Javanese long pepper (cabe jawa; piper retrofractum), temu lawak is put into
Sari Ayu’s Perawatan Wanita (Ladies Care Tablets) to give busy women a lift by
improving the blood and restoring muscle tone.

Its popularity is borne out by Mrs Kloppenburg-Versteegh (see page 16),
who included temu lawak in no less than 51 recipes in her book of herbal
remedies, eight of which are for liver complaints. She also exhorts anyone with
abdominal problems to take it neat, despite another school of thought that says
this root should always be mixed with at least five other ingredients.

This ginger’s therapeutic value was also endorsed by a French traveller
named LeClerc, who wrote a learned thesis on it during the 19th century. Tales
of the rhizome’s success in liver and gallstone treatments led to large quantities
being exported to Holland in the 1800s, where they were made into infusions
and drunk two or three times a day. In the 1980s, it appeared on the Dutch list of
pharmaceutical specialities and the Netherlands Drug Bulletin affirmed temu
lawak’s extensive use for gall bladder complaints.
In Holland, it is sold fresh, powdered or in tablet form. The root also plays a
part in cosmetics, where full use is made of its medicinal properties in face and