The Sundanese people have an amazing culinary heritage, including traditional drinks with unique flavors and health benefits. Unfortunately, many of these traditional drinks are becoming harder to find. Let's preserve them by making them at home!
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Warm Drinks — Perfect Companions for Cold Weather
1. Bajigur
Bajigur is the most famous traditional drink from Bandung. It's made from coconut milk, palm sugar, and ginger. The flavor is creamy, sweet, and warming. It's usually sold at street food stalls or traveling vendors at night. Its favorite toppings are kolang-kaling (sugar palm fruit) and young coconut.
Health benefits of bajigur: the ginger warms the body, the coconut milk provides energy, and palm sugar is healthier compared to regular white sugar.
2. Bandrek
While bajigur is creamy, bandrek has more of a "kick" from its spices. The main ingredients are mature ginger, palm sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. It has a warm, spicy flavor from the ginger that instantly warms up your body. It's a natural remedy for colds!
3. Wedang Ronde
A warm drink containing colorful glutinous rice balls in a sweet ginger broth. Inside the rice balls is a savory peanut filling. It's also topped with kolang-kaling (sugar palm fruit) and fried peanuts. Often sold from carts by traveling vendors at night.
4. Sekoteng
A sweet ginger broth filled with various ingredients: mung beans, pacar cina (tapioca pearls), kolang-kaling (sugar palm fruit), and pieces of bread. It's similar to a dessert soup, but warm. It's the perfect nighttime comfort food that warms the heart.
Cold Drinks — Refreshing in Hot Weather
5. Es Goyobod Garut
A unique drink from Garut containing hunkwe (a pudding made from mung bean flour) in a cold palm sugar syrup. The name comes from the word "goyobod," which means "to wobble" — because the hunkwe does wobble cutely in the glass. The combination of the chewy hunkwe texture, sweet palm sugar, and savory coconut milk is incredibly refreshing!
6. Es Doger
Pink shaved ice with a ton of toppings: tape (fermented cassava), black glutinous rice, cendol (green rice flour jelly noodles), pacar cina (tapioca pearls), young coconut, jackfruit, and basil seeds. It's drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. This iconic Bandung drink is packed with a "lively" mix of ingredients!
7. Es Cincau Hijau
Simple but refreshing! Chewy green grass jelly (cincau) cut into cubes, doused with cold coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. It's an affordable drink that's remained a favorite for generations.
Why Are Traditional Drinks Better?
Compared to trendy modern drinks that mostly use sugar and artificial coloring, traditional Sundanese drinks have their own unique advantages. Many use natural spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves that offer health benefits. Palm sugar, which is often used, also has a lower glycemic index compared to regular granulated sugar.
You can find all the drink recipes above in full on KulinerBDG. Let's preserve our traditional drinks by making them ourselves at home!
