168 recipes. Page 7 of 7
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It is only plum syrup stirred into water, but boiling water dulls the plum aroma, so the water is left to cool a little first. Over ice with a few mint leaves it is a summer drink; without the ice it makes a warm cup on a cold day.
Chill everything first. Mango pieces kept in the fridge, cold yogurt, and cold milk give a thick, cold lassi with only a little ice, so the drink doesn't get watered down. Pour the yogurt and milk in before the fruit so the liquid covers the blade and everything blends evenly. Taste the mango before adding honey, since a very sweet one needs less, and keep the quarter teaspoon of cardamom: it is what separates a lassi from a mango smoothie. It's ready when no bits remain and it lightly coats a spoon; thin it with a splash of milk if needed and pour into chilled glasses right away.
Roasted buckwheat simmered over low heat for ten minutes turns the water golden. Two jujubes and a strip of lemon peel go in with it, the peel cut thin with as little white pith as possible, since pith makes it astringent.
Minari, apple, cucumber and a small piece of ginger are blended with cold water. Poured straight from the blender, the juice is thick and fibrous; passed once through cheesecloth, it turns clear and green. A tart apple keeps it from leaning too sweet.
Misutgaru, a powder of roasted grains, is first worked into 100ml of cold milk until no dry bits remain, then thinned with the rest of the milk in two or three additions. Once it is poured over ice, roasted soybean powder is sifted on top.
Thin slices of quince, skin and all, are simmered briefly with sugar, honey, lemon juice, and a cinnamon stick into a fragrant amber preserve, and a few spoonfuls stirred into very hot water make each cup. The skin stays on because it carries much of the fruit's floral, citrusy aroma; only the bitter seeds and the hard core are cut away.
Tea simmered for thirty minutes from dried acanthopanax bark and astragalus root gets a very small amount of salt. It is there to take the edge off the herbal bitterness, not to make anything salty, and the honey goes in just before drinking.
Dried corn silk and corn kernels simmer in the same pot. The faint sweetness comes from the silk, the toasted-grain nuttiness from the kernels. Twenty-five minutes on low turns the water a clear gold; go longer and astringency starts to creep in. It is fine hot, though the sweetness comes through more clearly once it has been chilled in the fridge.
The broth for this punch comes from schisandra berries left in cold water for two hours or more. Honey is stirred into the red liquid and it goes into the fridge, while the pear and watermelon are scooped into balls only just before serving and floated with ice. Fruit left soaking in the punch goes soft quickly.
Dried schisandra berries are steeped cold in the fridge rather than boiled, which keeps the bright red infusion tart and refreshing instead of harsh. The hands-on work is short, but the steep needs at least 8 hours. Starting the night before works best.
The ginger is peeled and sliced thin, the jujubes pitted and halved, and the two simmer together. Unpeeled ginger works too, but peeling it keeps out the earthy taste of the skin. After straining, honey and a tiny pinch of cinnamon go in, and two slices of lemon float on top. Drink it warm.
The tea uses pitted, dried cornelian cherry flesh: dark red-purple, deeply wrinkled and soft, not whole berries with the hard stone still inside. Even pitted fruit can hide the odd stone or stem, so it gets picked over before rinsing. Fifteen minutes on low with jujubes and ginger turns the water red.
Young pine needles steeped over low heat with jujubes and ginger give a clear, resin-like pine scent. Longer simmering does not make that scent stronger, only more astringent, so the brew stays under 20 minutes.
Astragalus, angelica root, cinnamon and licorice simmer with jujubes on the lowest heat for 50 minutes or more, giving a brown, bittersweet brew with a distinct cinnamon note. Honey is dissolved in after straining. The instant ssanghwa powder sold for mixing with water is not a weight-for-weight stand-in for these dried herbs; if you are using a powder, follow its own package directions.
The mugwort, a grassy Korean spring herb, is blanched only briefly, so what comes through is its green aroma more than its bitterness. Blended with frozen banana and yogurt, it makes a thick, pale green smoothie.
The mugwort powder is first worked into a thick paste with a little lukewarm water. Whisked into warm milk a bit at a time, it spreads into an even jade green with no lumps. Condensed milk and honey sweeten it, and if mugwort is new to you, start with a little less powder.
Strawberries crushed roughly with a fork and left under a sprinkle of sugar for five minutes give up enough juice to become a syrup. It goes into the bottom of an iced glass before cold milk is poured slowly down the side to keep a red layer under a white one. Stir with a straw and the pale pink milk carries bits of strawberry you can chew.
Ripe watermelon blended and passed through a fine sieve loses its fiber and small seeds, leaving a clean, light juice sharpened with lime and lifted by soda water. Half the mint is pulsed in for a few seconds and the rest floats on top, so the drink smells of mint both in the glass and above it.
Dried bitter melon is bitter and dried jujube is sweet, and simmered in equal amounts they make a tea that leans neither way. Dried tangerine peel goes in only sparingly, since a lot of white pith makes it astringent.
Lotus root sliced thin and steeped slowly over low heat lets its starch out bit by bit, so the tea looks clear but has a slightly silky body. Five minutes in cold water after slicing rinses off the surface starch and keeps the tea from going cloudy. Most of the sweetness comes from the jujubes in the pot.
Yuja (Korean citron) marmalade, pear juice, lemon juice and honey are mixed into a base first, divided between iced glasses, and topped with soda water at the very end. Yuja marmalades vary in sweetness, so the honey goes in to taste. A sprig of rosemary, slapped once between the palms to wake it up, goes into each glass.
The yuja marmalade is loosened in water that has cooled to 85 to 90°C rather than at a rolling boil, which drives off the citron aroma and brings out bitterness. Honey, a little ginger juice and a few drops of lemon go in too, and the cups are warmed with hot water beforehand. The peel sinks to the bottom; stir before drinking.
Job's tears, a grain sold in Korea as yulmu, is ground into a powder that gives this milky drink a nutty, cereal-like flavor, while a spoonful of glutinous rice flour thickens it to a body that coats the mouth. Dropping the powder straight into hot water makes it clump, so it is loosened in cold water first.
Soaked Job's tears and walnuts are dry-toasted to drive off the raw grain smell, then simmered in milk and blended into a nutty latte. Soaking alone does not soften the grain enough to blend smoothly; it needs to simmer until a kernel gives when pressed.