The Soup Queen

Remember I wrote about trying out Joanne's fruit kefir and getting excited about making mine? Well, I did a batch of dried longan and dried red dates kefir just a week ago. I added them to my kefir for a second round of fermentation at room temperature for another 2 days (the first round is just the kefir, water and sugar for 2 days at room temperature). It tasted fabulous as fabulous can be. It had a light fizziness with a subtle hint of longan sweetness and red date fragrance. I also tried making a batch of pear kefir but pears aren't exactly a strong-tasting fruit so I couldn't detect much of a pear flavour. But definitely try out the dried longan and dried red date combination. I find that it's the most interesting taste for me.

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...