Tasty – home-made alcohol, using parts of the pineapple you usually throw out!
Ingredients
150g ordinary sugar
1 large organic pineapple peel and center only
1 medium cinnamon stick (optional)
4 star anise (optional)
1/2 cup water
Instructions
Warm the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan set over high heat. Stir them together until the sugar dissolves fully.
While the sugar water cools, cut away the pineapple’s top and bottom. And then, discard them. Chop the peel, reserving the fruit for another purpose, and place it into a 1 gallon jar. Drop the cinnamon stick and clove into a gallon-sized jar.
Pour the sugar water over the the pineapple, and then pour in the remaining 1.5L water and the water kefir, if using. Cover the jar, and allow the tepache to ferment for about 3 days, or until bubbles and foam form at the surface of the jar. Strain away the pineapple and spices, and then pour the tepache into bottles.
You can drink the tepache right away, or allow it to ferment in the bottle an addition 1 to 2 days. Serve over ice.
Add lime juice or lemon juice to give it an extra refreshing punch.
Add ice, chopped fruit – e.g. pineapple, apples etc for sangria type fun.
Notes
The quantities in this recipe can be duplicated for a larger amount of Tepache.
Make alcoholic tepache or vinegar. You can ferment the tepache longer, about a week or so, and it will become increasingly alcoholic. If you ferment the tepache at least a month, it will form raw pineapple vinegar.
making alcohol is illegal in Japan – so be a little discreet
Option:
Prepare the Tepache using only the pineapple peels, water and sugar, but add the cinnamon stick and cloves enhance the flavor.