Bonus Recipe: Oh, Right, the Tepache!
Bonus Recipe: Oh, Right, the Tepache!
What to do with those pineapple rinds after you've made the Pineapple Habanero hot sauce. Trust me, you'll love this.
Hello, friend,
Bonus time!
Remember the pineapple rind and core you set aside for the Pineapple Habanero hot sauce? Now we are going to use them to make a somewhat bubbly, refreshing Mexican drink that is delicious over ice, especially on a hot summer day.
Warning: There are stories online that tepache — which is fermented — can have the alcoholic content of a beer, so if you do not drink alcohol, forewarned is forearmed. I have never felt any “buzz” from drinking tepache, but I thought I would mention it.
Place the rind and core in another gallon jar.
Add a cone of piloncillo, or 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I had some lumps of palm sugar that I bought at my local Asian market in the house, so I added two of those.
Thrown in a cinnamon stick, just for kicks. Add two whole cloves, but no more than that. More cloves than that will taste bad, trust me.
Add filtered water to cover the contents. Fill another plastic Ziploc bag with filtered water and set that on top so that everything is submerged under the water.
Place some clean cheesecloth over the top and secure it around the neck of the jar with a rubber band.
Place the tepache jar in a dark cabinet where it is relatively warm and not drafty.
After 48 hours, check on the jar. The sugar should have melted and the liquid should be bubbling slightly.
Strain the tepache into a bottle or pitcher and place in the fridge, but do NOT discard the pineapple. You can get a second batch out of the rind and core by adding it back into the jar and repeating the steps with new spices and water!
Pour yourself a glass as soon as it’s cold. Garnish it with fruit if you feel fancy. Pretend that you are surrounded by palm trees and that you can hear the mariachi music playing nearby.
Ahhhh ….
Until next time,
Deb