Ginger Tea - The Yangtze - Outdoor Wednesday

Lesser Three Gorges - Daning Tributary to the Yangtze River


Thai-Style Ginger Tea

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I think we've all experienced an instant connect with a stranger at one time or another in our lives. This photo, captured at a bend in the Yangtze river, was taken beneath the parasol of such a friend. She called Singapore home but was Thai by birth. A career and several marriages had, quite literally, taken her around the world and she knew a thing or two about comfort on the road. Her purse was a veritable magician's hat and on this particular day, unhappy with the flavorless tea being served on board our small excursion ship, she pulled two packets from her bottomless "hat" and proceeded to make two cups of the best tea I had ever had. The tea was actually a Thai Ginger Drink that is very popular in Asia. While ginger is used in cooking throughout the world, you may be surprised to learn that it has health benefits as well. Many, especially in Asia, consider it to be a cure-all. Health benefits aside, my main interest in using fresh ginger is to make tea. While I haven't been able to create an exact duplicate of the ginger drink, I've come very close and have been serving it, hot or cold, ever since. This is how it's done.

Ginger Tea...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
8 cups water
1/2 cup peeled and thinly sliced fresh ginger
1 lemon or lime thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup dark honey

Directions:
Bring water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Add ginger and lemon. Cover pot and let sit for 20 to 40 minutes. The tea becomes stronger the longer it steeps. Strain. Stir in honey. Serve hot or cold. Yield: 8 cups.

This recipe is being linked to Outdoor Wednesday, an event sponsored by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.