Ani's Raw Food Essentials - Ani Phyo [23]
Allowing for a secondary fermentation, by placing the water kefir, after the grains have been removed, in a glass jar at room temperature for another day or two, will decrease the sugar content even more, while substantially increasing B-group vitamins.
NOTE: Keep metal away from your kefir grains.
2 cups filtered water
1/3 cup organic Sucanat, turbinado sugar, or agave syrup
1 tablespoon raisins
¼ cup lemon slices, with rind on (about ½ lemon)
1 to 2 tablespoons water kefir grains
Pour the water into a glass jar with a lid. Don’t fill all the way to the top, and make sure to leave a couple of inches of air. Dissolve the sugar in the water by stirring or shaking with the lid on. Add the raisins and lemon slices, and the kefir grains. Close the lid.
Place the jar in a dark cabinet for 24 to 48 hours, to brew and ferment. You can stir the brew once a day, or just leave it alone for 2 days. When ready, use a plastic spoon or sieve (do not use metal) to scoop the lemon and raisins off the top. Then, stir slightly and pour the water through a plastic sieve to catch all of your water kefir grains.
Pour the water into a glass container, and either place in the fridge and enjoy immediately; or leave at room temperature for another day or two for secondary fermentation, then place the jar in the fridge to enjoy.
Will keep for a month or more in the fridge.
Use the kefir water grains to start another batch immediately.
Is Sugar Vegan? Turbinado vs. Sucanat vs. White Sugar
I’VE ALWAYS known that white sugar is refined and processed. But, I was really surprised to find out that white sugar is refined with bone char, so it’s not vegan. According to PETA, Sucanat and turbinado are never filtered with bone char.
Turbinado sugar is similar to white refined sugar except for its color and contains only a tiny amount of molasses. It’s made by evaporating and then crystallizing sugar cane juice. The crystals are spun in a turbine (hence the name) to remove any remaining water.
Sucanat (“SUgar CAne NATural”) is pure dried cane juice. It’s a nonrefined cane sugar and contains its full molasses content and flavor.
KOMBUCHA
A healing and detoxifying drink made from tea, sugar, and a culture called the “mother” or “mushroom,” which is actually a symbiosis of acetic acid bacteria and yeast. This mother culture transforms the tea into enzymes; vitamins; organic acids; and substances with antibiotic, antiseptic, and detoxifying characteristics.
The earliest records of kombucha are from 414 BC in Korea, where it eventually migrated to China, Japan, Russia, and India. It’s known for its antiaging properties, removes heavy metals and toxins from our bodies, and is a powerful detoxifier. It increases stamina, thins our blood, improves skin elasticity, tone, and color, helps our body flush acidic toxins, and even combats depression.
Kombucha is high in hyaluronic acid, which helps connective tissues and the collagen in skin stay moist and youthful. It can also be applied topically as a compress and is used in cultured food recipes as a starter to speed up the fermentation process.
The “mother mushroom” culture is a jellylike membrane that will constantly grow. You can grow your own mother from scratch, using unpasturized kombucha tea in place of the mother when brewing. This process takes longer to brew because of the small amount of bacteria and yeast. Whereas it takes about two weeks when you start from a mother, it will take about a month when starting from scratch.
Kombucha can be made with caffeinated or caffeine-free teas. Drink a maximum of two cups per day as a preventative. Kombucha is similar to vinegar in that it contains a high amount of acetic acid, so I’d recommend a maximum of two cups a day.
KOMBUCHA
MAKES 1 GALLON
Make your kombucha with black, oolong, or green tea. The culture prefers to have at least some black tea in