You've all heard of honey-garlic... but what about honey-ginger?

Honey (particularly of the raw variety) really just seems to make everything better. Add it to toast, and you have breakfast magic. Add it to garlic, and you have a fabulous coating for chicken wings (or better still, make garlic-honey and boost your immune system in the yummiest way possible!). But after all my years of adding honey to things, I have no idea why I never thought about adding it to ginger.

It makes a lot of sense - honey's sweetness would be the perfect contrast to gingerroot's spice. Both ingredients have a host of healthy benefits, but it still never occurred to me that this might be something that I should try.

Until today. Then I saw that my jar of buckwheat honey only has about half a cup of that sweetness left, and that is typically when I will just give up on using that jar for tea and just add things to infuse together with the leftover honey. (Seriously, more people need to start doing this, because I have discovered some AMAZING flavour combinations that way!)

So today, that mostly-empty jar of honey is getting a heavy hit with some raw gingerroot... because YUM! Ginger tea with honey is one of my favourite things already, and so I would imagine that having a honey available that offers that same taste sensation would honestly make me pretty happy.

And so, behold! One of the simplest but probably yummiest things that is coming out of my kitchen this weekend (ok, maybe not really... as lunch was crafted by my dear friend Laura and I, and we made seafood ramen. Like I'm talking proper scallops and shrimp, cooked to perfection, then added to a broth that was positively packed with flavour. Bok choy, lemongrass, a few varieties of mushrooms... it was pure magic. Like, yummy to its maximum capacity. But we are getting off topic.....)

So that was this morning and afternoon, but this evening is just going to be spent relaxing with my man and making a jar of ginger honey to help keep me warm through the last little bit of winter.

Fermented Ginger Honey:

·         1 cup fresh ginger slices with skin on

·         1 cup raw honey (or more to cover ginger as needed) -- it is important to use raw honey for this recipe, as it has all of the bacteria and wild yeast that are necessary for fermentation

1)    Place the slices of ginger in a wide-mouth pint-sized mason jar. Add enough raw honey to completely cover the ginger (you have to make sure the slices are completely coated all over with honey)

2)    Loosely place the lid on the jar and place it in a dark place. Every day or so, tighten the lid on the jar and flip it upside down a few times to coat the ginger slices with honey. Loosen the lid again when you return it to the upright position

3)    Typically, you should see small bubbles start to form on the surface of the honey within a few days to a week. This is good! It means fermentation is happening. The small amount of juice from the ginger creates just enough liquid for fermentation to happen (it is a good idea to put a plate underneath the jar during fermentation, as it will likely bubble up and a little bit of honey could possibly drip out)

4)    The ginger honey will ferment for about a month, but you can eat it at any time. The flavours develop over time – the ginger’s spiciness will mellow, and the honey will become much runnier

5)    Store the jar with the lid tightly closed in a cool place for many months or even a year, if not longer

 

If you are concerned about botulism, use a pH test strip. Botulism spores can’t reproduce with a pH of less than 4.6. Honey is usually around 3.9, but that can vary between brands. If the pH is too high, add a splash of raw apple cider vinegar to add more acidity and retest. This is generally not needed, still important to know

PLEASE NOTE: Ginger honey should not be given to babies under one year of age.

Honey infused with gingerroot... immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, and totally yummy!