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Kefir With Dried Longan, Red Dates & Chrysanthemum Flowers

I was over at Joanne's apartment two weeks ago when she asked if I'd like some kefir.

I make my own kefir too at home but mine is just regular water kefir without a second fermentation and without fruits. Nic is such a purist that he refuses to add any fruits to his kefir.

Joanne, on the other hand, is one who loves fruits in her kefir.

She served me a mug of water kefir with chopped apple and hawthorn. It tasted really fizzy and sweet and I loved the texture and crunch of the apple.

She told me she makes all sorts of fruit kefir drinks. Sometimes she would take the time to chop up fruits she finds in her fridge; other times, she'd pop into Jusco nearing closing time and buy two bottles of their concentrated fruit juice (guava for instance) and add this into her water kefir and ferment it in the fridge.

I thought it was a smart idea to buy ready juices - I can't imagine pulling out my juicer and juicing fruits only to spend the next 20 minutes washing out the damn thing. (Can you see me rolling my eyes? There are some inventions that are great as ideas but no one mentioned the washing up of the invention.)

Besides the typical fruits and juices, she also told me one of the most delicious kefirs she'd made was one with dried longan, dried red dates and dried chrysanthemum flowers.

I was intrigued. The Soup Queen's ears pricked up. ;-)

She said she often had leftover longan and red dates from praying and she didn't know what to do with them. So into the kefir, they went. She also added chrysanthemum flowers.

Of all the kefir ideas she gave me, this was the most interesting!

It also made me feel it was a truly TCM recipe as it involved red dates, dried longan and chrysanthemum.

I am going to try Joanne's recipe for water kefir with Chinese herbs and I will update how it all goes.

What fruits have you included in your water kefir? What's the best fruit to use?


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