Korean Ginger Tea Food

KOREAN GINGER TEA

Steps:

• Clean the ginger well
• Rinse the cinnamon in cold water.
• Thin slice the ginger.
• Put the ginger, cinnamon, and water into a pot.
• Boil it on medium (or low) heat for about 25-30 minutes.
• Sieve the ginger and cinnamon. (Use a white straining cloth if you can, to catch the small dirt from the cinnamon).
• Serve it in a tea cup. (You can also add some pine nuts and honey).

KOREAN HONEY GINGER TEA (SAENGGANG CHA)

Steps:

• Wash the ginger a few times in running water and place in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Once the skins of the ginger becomes moist, the skin will easily rub off with a small spoon or cloth. If you prefer, you can also peel the skin with a potato peeler. Wash and peel the skin of the asian pear and cut into pieces.
• If you have a juicer, juice all of the ginger and pear. I re-juiced the pulp of the ginger a second time to squeeze out even more! If you don't have a juicer, you can run the ginger and pear in the blender, place the blended concoction in a cloth and manually squeeze out all of the juice by twisting the cloth hard. This will take a bit of strength but well worth it!
• After you juice, let it sit for about 30-60 minutes as some of the starch of the juice will sink to the bottom. Once you see that the starch has settled at the bottom, pour the juice through a sieve to catch any last lingering pieces and pour into a large pot.
• Add in the honey, sugar and cinnamon sticks.
• On high heat bring to a boil and bubbles/foam may form. You can level out some of the bubbles with a spoon and bring the heat to medium high and continue simmer for about 40 more minutes. The tea will turn into a darker golden color and become more syrup-like and reduced - similar to a sesame oil consistency.
• An important step to making jam, preserves or tea syrups is to make sure the glass jars are completely clean with no bacteria as this will affect the shelf life. In a pot of water, place the empty jars right-side up and boil for about 3 minutes. Flip the jars upside down and boil the jars for another 3 minutes. Allow the jars to air dry.

CHILLED CINNAMON-GINGER TEA (SOOJONG GWA)

Steps:

• Pour the water into a large pot. Add the cinnamon and ginger and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and carefully remove the cinnamon and ginger. Add the brown sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Let cool, then refrigerate for several hours (preferably overnight) until chilled.
• If you wish, sprinkle a few pine nuts in each cup before serving.

GINGER SAFFRON TEA

Steps:

• Peel ginger and chop it coarsely.
• Pour the 4 cups of water into a pot, add the ginger and cinnamon (optional) and bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat to low. Add the RawSpiceBar's Saffron strands, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Uncover, turn heat slightly up and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add honey if you like it sweet.
• Strain tea into 4 cups. Serve and enjoy!