Okay, guys, so, my wife had me clean up an empty jar one day. You know, took off the label, removed the goo from under the label, washed it and rinsed it.
I was intrigued as her little "assignments" for me are usually pretty interesting or merely first steps in long and tedious chores. This one would prove to be quite interesting!
While I cleaned the jar and lid, she got some water boiling on the stove. I hand her the jar and lid and she put them into the boiling water to disinfect it. My interest level was increasing even further.
She then had me sharpen a knife while she got the cutting board, an orange, some fresh ginger and our jar of honey. While the disinfected jar cooled, she sliced the orange with the peel on and chopped up some unpeeled ginger. She then put those into the jar. She emptied our jar of honey over the orange and ginger until they were fully covered.
All while she was doing this she said she was making us some Fermented Ginger and Honey to use for hot toddies or even just a spoonful of "medicine". She said she would stir the mixture everyday for 2 weeks, resealing the lid tightly afterward. And, in 2 weeks, we'd have a fermented, slightly bubbly liquid which we could use to put a spoonful or two into a cup of hot water to make a toddy. Or, we could just take a spoonful and enjoy it that way.
Regardless of how we would take it the mixture was to give us improved gut health, you know, increase the good bacteria kind of thing. Or, if we felt gassy or just not ourselves digestion-wise, we could take it and it would improve our overall health. She also said it would tremendously help us improve our immune systems.
Sure enough, after 2 days of stirring, we both noticed how the honey was no longer thick, it was watery. This meant the sugar was breaking down. And, after 2 weeks of stirring, we had a nice little jar of slightly bubbly, incredibly yummy tasting "Tummy Fixer" as I call it.
Okay, so here's the real story....the first batch, we didn't open it every day and stir it. We merely rolled it around, shaking up the material inside so it wasn't all settled on the bottom. DON'T DO THIS! HAHAHAA. When I first opened our first batch after 2 weeks....BOOOOOMM!!!! Stuff exploded. The fermentation pressure had built up so greatly that shit got real. HAHHA. Yeah, so open it every day, stir it, 2 weeks you'll want to guzzle it and wish you had made tons more!
Give it a try! Here's the recipe: