Language and Culture Notes

In Indonesia, modern medicine exists side by side with traditional or alternative medicine such as jamu. Among women, jamu is popular for dieting and enhancing beauty. Jamu is also taken for common ailments such as a cold (masuk angin), a cough (batuk), or worms (cacingan). Jamu is a mixture of medicinal herbs such as turmeric (kunyit), kaempferia galanga (kencur), tamarind (asam jawa), and piper betle (daun sirih). Jamu may be prepared as a liquid and sold by vendors or processed into a powder in a factory and sold in packets. People may buy jamu from sellers in the market or from those who walk or bike through the neighborhoods. (See the photographs below). Packaged jamu is available in the supermarkets.

In the photograph above, the jamu seller offers liquid jamu in bottles and also packets of powdered jamu.

This man sells packages of jamu powder which must be brewed with hot water at home.