Ginger Miel and Ginger Fizz
I’m a ginger lover. I cook with it, infuse honey with it, drink it as tea, get it in ice-cream, eat it as candy. Ginger has digestive health benefits as well as being delicious and zingy. I also enjoy ginger ale and ginger beer from time to time, but like candied ginger, i tend to limit my use of them these days because of the high sugar content.
Ginger Miel
At one point I was craving sweet food sensations in my diet but avoiding sugar completely, so I came up with this ginger infused honey which I’ll call Ginger Miel (miel is honey in French).
1. Fresh ginger root
2. honey
3. rice sized grater
I keep my ginger frozen because I like to buy a big hunk of root but sometimes don’t use it up right away. In the freezer it doesn’t go bad, it’ll thaw easily within a few minutes to cut for cooking, and for this recipe it grates better than fresh.
Break off a knob of ginger big enough to safely hold onto and grate it fine into a small bowl. When you’ve got a nice pile (at least a quarter cup) transfer it to a jar and cover it completely with honey. You can put in honey as much as a 2 to 1 ratio and still have plenty of ginger flavor.
Let the honey and ginger mixture stand overnight or for several hours and stir to mix the ginger and ginger juice thoroughly. Taste. I like this with plain yogurt, pancakes, in tea or you name it!
Another treat Ginger Ale, is too sugary and often not available with organic ingredients. So I was delighted recently to learn how to make my own low sugar ginger ale.
This is a naturally fermented beverage. It has a gentle fizz rather than big bubbles that explode out of the bottle were you to shake it. And it’s simpler to make than a regular carbonated beverage.
Ginger Fizz
1. Fresh ginger root
2. Raw agave syrup, honey or sugar
3. Water
1. In a one quart mason jar* place approximately one inch of ginger root sliced 1/8” thick. Add 2 tsp. sugar or honey, or 3 tsp. agave syrup. The sweetener is what ferments. Add in 1/2 cup water, cover loosely and allow to sit at room temperature for a day or so. Depending on the room temperature you will begin to see tiny bubbles at the surface.
2. When the mixture has begun to ferment you can add some more sweetener (no more than another tablespoon) and fill the jar up with water to the “shoulder” where the jar comes in to the neck. You need to leave a little breathing room because this food is alive! Let your mixture sit another day or so. Sample as necessary. You should get a lightly fizzy, refreshing drink with a little tang from the natural fermentation.
3. When I’ve got the desired fizz, I pour off all but about 1/2 cup of “starter” and refill the jar with sweetener and water as in step two. I re-use the ginger slices once, then set them aside for cooking. I put the finished refreshing drink in a second jar in the refrigerator.
I find there is a delicious healthy feel to this drink: refreshing and a little extra digestive boost from the live cultures.
If you have fun with this, check out the book “Wild Fermentation” by Sandor Katz. Yum!!
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