Honey-fermented kumquats
A delicious sweet and citrusy probiotic concoction made from two ingredients: honey and kumquats. Use as a drink, food, or both.
Servings 7 cups
Ingredients
- 6 cups kumquats, quartered or halved (remove any easy-to-find large seeds, otherwise leave them) See notes in article about pros and cons of quartering or halving kumquats.
- 3.5 cups honey
Instructions
- Cut kumquats and remove any easy seeds that are easy to grab, otherwise leave them. Quartering the fruit allows the juice to quickly begin infusing and mixing with the honey, which speeds up fermentation. Halving the fruit slows the fermentation by a few days, but you may prefer larger finished fruit pieces.
- Add kumquats to jar about 1.5-2 cups at a time, then cover with honey. Repeat until you reach the top of the jar. If you put all the kumquats in the jar BEFORE adding honey, it will take a long time for the honey to settle into the jar.
- Cover jar. Option 1. (recommended) Fasten a breathable fabric like linen or a paper towel to the top of the jar with a string of rubber band. Option 2. Put a standard jar lid on but don't screw it down, so that the mixture can "burp" when it needs to.
- Stir twice daily, once in the morning and once at night. Taste a small amount each time to monitor the flavor development. After about 7-10 days (depending on fruit cut size), you'll notice the mixture starting to get bubbly.
- Arrest/stop fermentation by placing it in the fridge whenever you love the flavor and effervescence, but before it starts to take on odd flavor notes. For us, this was ~20 days. Store in the fridge for up to 2-3 months (possibly longer).