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Lemon juice is not used often in Chinese cuisine, but preserving lemon slices in honey is a popular way to make a healthy tea in China. This tea helps to improve the skin, wards off or fights a cold, hydrates the body, aids digestion and wakes up the metabolism.
Timings
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus a week preserving
Makes
1kg
Ingredients
- 500g lemons, the freshest and sweetest
- 500g runny honey
Method
- Sterilise a large airtight preserving jar and any rubber seal or lid by dipping them in a large pan of boiling water for several seconds, draining and letting them dry naturally.
- Using a clean chopping board, slice the lemons thinly. Start to fill the jar by layering the lemon slices neatly on top of each other, overlapping slightly. Once the jar is filled, pour in enough honey to completely cover the lemons. If the honey is very thick, warm it slightly in its jar or a bowl in a pan of warm water until it pours easily.
- Cover the filled jar and store in the fridge.
- Every couple of days, stir the lemon slices and honey from bottom to top with a clean spoon or chopstick, or simply give it a good shake.
- You can use the lemon-honey mixture after one week, and it can be kept for over a month as long as you use a clean spoon every time you take some out of its container.
- To make lemon-honey tea, fill a mug or cup with 225ml warm water (around 60C). Add a tablespoon of the lemon-honey liquid and 2 lemon slices, and stir. If you prefer a cold drink, cool the tea and add some ice cubes to serve.
Recipe from The Gourmand’s Lemon: A Collection of Stories and Recipes (Taschen, £40)
