Lemon-Honey Tea Base

With the start of school (and cold season) I've finally gotten around to making some lemon-honey tea base for me and the kids. I guess this stuff is ubiquitous in Korea and other Asian countries, but here in America it probably looks like you're drinking marmalade jam.

The first time I ever tired this was in Oregon when my Korean neighbor invited me over to share in my first ever Korean food experience. While she was gathering up things like shrimp flavored Cheetos and salty toasted nori for me to sample (this is probably why it took me another 3 years to ever try Korean food again), she also mixed up some Korean honey tea. She produced a glass continaer from the very back of her fridge and dug out a giant dollop of amber colored jam that she uncermoniously gloped into a cup. She poured boiling water over it, and handed me my mug. Wow, the most glorious thing I've ever tasted...it was fruity, and warming, and totally blissful. I was suprised to find it only contained two ingredients as well...sliced lemons and honey. She said when she ever had extra lemons she sliced them up and added them to her jar...extra honey? Same thing.

I guess you can buy this stuff pre-made at any Asian market, but why bother when you can use fresh, organic ingredients, and put it together yourself? Honey is a natural preservative and after awhile the lemons kindof dissolve into the honey to make a fragrant, sweet, marmalade like concoction. This would make a really thoughtful dinner party gift. A perfect hot drink during the cold months, and very soothing to a sore throat!

*Many apologies for taking so long to update this blog post.  I wrote this post 3 years ago, and didn't even know it was linked back by bloggers till my bandwidth maxed out while we were away on vacation last month. Whoops!  I've fallen way behind with blogging, and one of these days I'd like to get back to updating and maintaining more regularly.  Sorry again to those who asked for info and didn't get an answer in a very timely manner.

I have to make an amendment to the recipe for those who ran into a "gelling" problem and want expedited results.  The lady across the street said she'd been adding to that jar of hers for a long time (likely a few years), so it's possible it started with some amount of gelling agent already in place, or it could be it just thickened up on it's own.  My own viscocity experience didn't really factor in since the kids and I tore through the stuff in less than a week, but I think I have a fix for those who need it.

If you're finding your mix too runny you can dump the contents of the jars into a pan, add a bit of pectin (found in almost any grocery store), and bring to a rolling boil for a couple minutes.  This should firm the stuff right up. Pectin is all natural and a common ingredient in cough drops so I think it's fitting for a cold and throat remedy addition, too.  

Many people asked for a more precise recipe. I'm sorry I can't give you exact amounts as it really depends on how many jars, how much honey you have on hand, and how many lemons you choose to include.  

In any case, I'm glad that people liked the idea, and hope you enjoy creating variations of your own...half the fun, really!  Please feel free to link this post wherever you like so long as I'm credited for the photo. 

Lastly, I have no expertise in the fields of canning or food borne toxins.  However, I'd recommend keeping this in the refrigerator and refrain from giving it to infants.* 
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