I had a massive ulcer today and a colleague suggested that I take something cooling - like barley. So after lunch, we went to one of the herbal tea shops in Bugis to get some barley - one for me, one for her. All was well till I got back to the office and opened the bottle. Now I've got this thing about reading ingredients of things, not just food products but anything at all - shampoo, cleansers etc. So I looked at the label and, with a gradual dilating of my pupils and drop of my jaw, read the first ingredient - "semen coicis". Whatthehey????? It certainly did NOT help that barley is, by nature, a whitish cloudy mixture with a viscosity that really depends on the brewer's liking. I sat there, totally stunned and trying very hard not to puke my guts out.

Upon partial recovery of my sanity, I took a brisk walk to my colleague's desk and asked her what the heck semen coicis was. Needless to say, she burst into laughter but had no answer for me. Totally dissatisfied and still a little freaked out, I turned to the trusty web for some answers. No way was that bottle of questionable contents coming anywhere near my mouth before I knew what was in it!

This is what I found out:

DESCRIPTION

Broad ovoid or elongated-elliptical, 4~8 mm long, 3~6 mm wide. Externally milky white, smooth, occasionally with yellowish-brown testa. One end obtusely rounded, the other end relatively broad and slightly dented with 1 pale brown dotted hilum. Dorsal surface rounded and protruding; ventral surface having 1 relatively broad and deep longitudinal furrow. Texture hard, fracture white and starchy. Odour, slight; taste, slightly sweet.

Hello?!?! That sounds even more dodgy!!! But anyway, if you're wondering, semen coicis is a really bad name for some sort of barley. Felt better after that.

And if you must know, yes, it tasted good.