Badiangan Tahu: The Sweet-Hot Pride of the Ilonggos

Even though you can find various brands of ginger tea at the shelves in any supermarket Badiangan Tahu Instant Ginger Tea tastes entirely different, remarkably better than any other brand available in the market.

Barangay Iniligan in Badiangan, Iloilo continues the long history of making ginger ale the old fashioned way. Mr. Diosdado V. Aguilar Sr., inventor and proprietor of Badiangan Tahu Instant Ginger Tea, has remained pure and true to his historical beginnings of preserving the rich tradition of making old-time ginger tea. His passion dates back to 1970 when he started doing his research on growing ginger and its many uses.

Mr. Aguilar soon developed Badiangan Tahu Instant Ginger Tea in the mid 1970’s and it became so in demand that the local folks simply could not get enough of his delightful tea. He quickly worked on having his product patented. Now, Badiangan Tahu Instant Ginger Tea, Philippines Patent UM 2460 is the only patented ginger tea in the whole Philippines. This would mean that his product is wholesome and super high quality. The town has its Ginger Growers and Producers Cooperative that was organized with Mr. Aguilar as its founding president.

The “Original” Badiangan Tahu by Mr. Aguilar is an impressive display of what happens when you take quality ingredients and let their natural flavor take center stage. In this case, you have got a formulation that relies heavily on the flavor of the fresh peeled ginger that goes into each pack. Presently, it has with sugar and sugar-free varieties.

Drinking tahu regularly is medicinal. Badiangan Tahu uses the whole fresh root so that it can better capture the health benefits of ginger which includes: (a) alleviating nausea – ginger tea is often taken for motion sickness and morning sickness; (b) helping digestion – drinking ginger tea can calm the stomach and attack toxins in food that might cause stomach upset or illness; (c) fighting colds. Drinking ginger tea is also good for women's health.

Ginger is a low-growing tropical plant which is easily grown. It grows up to 4 feet high with alternate, thin, green leaves up to 7 inches long. The part which is used is commonly called ginger root although technically it is the rhizome that is used. The rhizome is an underground stem from which roots and shoots grow. Ginger has a quite sweet, pungent smell and the taste is distinctly fiery. The chemical which makes it hot is called “gingerol” and is a relative of capsaisin which makes chillis hot.

The 5th class municipality of Badiangan is situated 40 kilometers from the city. Composed of 31 barangays, it has a land area of 6,335 hectares. Agriculture is the major source of income of its people. The town is blessed with abundant rolling hills perfect for planting ginger or Luy-a as it is commonly called by the Ilonggos.