Edible Landscape - Misai Kucing

Through the generations, we have heard the stories of how great the Misai Kucing (Botanical name : Orthosiphon Stamineus) tea is, purported to be good for diabetes, high blood pressure, diuretic, rheumatoid athritis, gout and as a body cleansers along with removal of metabolic wastes.  You can find commercially available Misai Kucing tea but I find them to be rather pricy and it is funny to see that it is often imported when we can grow them easily in our great weather.

The variety planted at Suria Helang Lui has pale lavender flowers so makes for a beautiful addition to the landscape.  You can also find plants that produce white flowers.  True to its name, it does look like a cat's whiskers.  It can be propagate using stem cuttings and placing them in soil with good organic content with good drainage.  It is an easy plant to grow and can grow to a bush up to 2m tall.  The best way to control the bush and to ensure it continues to flower beautifully, regularly prune it and use the pruned flowers and leaves to make a wonderful tea.

My misai kucing patch,
full of weeds and grass

Partially-weeded misai
 kucing patch

At the farm, no pesticide nor weed killers are used so taking care of this plant is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming but well worth it, especially considering, its purpose as a herbal health tea.  Every month, I will spend approximately 2 days just pulling weeds and cutting the grass around around it.  At this time, I will also prune the plants substantially.  The weeds are place in a compost pile which will be added to the soil again when ready.  Once weeded, it is fertilize and the upper soil layer is mulched. 

The cuttings from this pruning exercise is then used to make the tea.  Remove any dried or old leaves to ensure a quality tea.



Cuttings ready to be
processed to make the tea

For "salad" lovers, the flowers are also tasty eaten raw so can add beauty to you salad plate.

When I hold my Durian Fest, I always make sure that I serve this tea using great, unpolluted water from the "ulu sungai" as it does help with keeping your sugar level from shooting up as well as keeping the body "cool".  Personally, I drink this tea a couple of times a week for "maintenance" purposes since I do love sweet things.  I have friends who drink this tea for the purpose of controlling their blood sugar as well as a prevention or cure for diabetes.  Traditionally, it is also used as a blood cleanser as a capillary and circulatory remedy as well as for controlling high blood pressure.  Hence, this tea is served at my Durian Fest and my unscientific observation, guests who consume this tea while they are enjoying lots of durian fare better then those who don't.

Flowers and leaves,

ready for next step

I find that the tastiest tea can be obtained by using just the flowers, the soft stem and leaves.  To make the the tea, strip the leaves and flowers from the stem.  You can also use the soft stem of the flowers.  Do not use the "woody" stems but instead you can use this to propagate new plants. 

"Chopped" flowers and
leaves

I use a pair of kitchen scissors and cut them up into smaller pieces and place them in a "tampi" or any tray that allows for air circulation.  Remember to cover the tray with a cloth such as a tea cloth to prevent "aliens" from joining your tea leaves.  It is important to air-dry them out of direct sunlight to preserve its properties.  During hot weather season, it takes about 1 week to dry.  At the minimum, "fluff" the tea every two days to ensure it dries evenly.
To brew the tea, use very hot water, steeping them for about 5 minutes producing a lovely golden brown colored tea with a natural sweetness to it.  No sugar need be added and can be consumed hot, warm or cold.  The type of water used also will affect the taste of the tea.  Apart from diabetes and hypertension, this tea has been used to treat kidney ailment such as kidney stones, and has diuretic properties.

For all the benefits that this tea provides, it is why I love drinking it a few times a week, one of the elements in health maintenance.  Since I produce the tea myself, I am assured of how it is planted, what is used to fertilize and the tea produced is pure Misai Kucing, no additives or preservatives.  As I continue to increase the number of plants on the farm, the production is increasing.  Currently, I sell this at the Sunday morning market and through direct orders.  If you are interested in purchasing it, please contact me at 019-2089062 or e-mail me at suriahelanglui@yahoo.com.