Fermented Lemonade Sima
Finnish fermented lemonade sima is a refreshing alcohol free summer drink. It is not a drink with lots of lemons like the lemonade we know. You can get 2 liters of lemonade with just 1 lemon. It tastes not like classic lemonade, but rather like a lemon kombucha with a soft taste. When it is served with lots of ice, you can't get enough of it.
They use white and brown sugar half and half in making sima. It's not technically necessary, you can just use white sugar (it will just change its color), but if you want to stick to the original recipe, you should use brown sugar.
The yellow rind and interior of the lemon are used. The white part is separated and discarded to avoid bitterness. It is also important not to use the white part in making classic lemonade.
The ingredient that ferments lemonade is baker's yeast. You can use classic powdered yeast or instant yeast. It takes a few days for the lemonade to ferment. In the summer, 2 days will usually be sufficient. But on days when the room temperature is not very high, this period may take up to four days. Do not worry. After straining the lemonade, it is placed in the refrigerator and fermentation continues. This period is an average of 5-6 days. It's done when you start seeing bubbles starting from the bottom of the bottles and traveling upwards and hearing the whistling sound from the bottles. In fact, in order to understand whether it's done in the original recipe, 4-5 raisins are added into the bottles while taking it to the refrigerator. When the raisins start to float, it's considered the lemonade is ready. But even if there are no raisins, it can be clearly understood from the bubbles and the sound.
I told you fermented lemonade tastes like kombucha. Although one cup of sugar is used in lemonade, the amount of sugar is gradually decreasing as the bacteria feed on this sugar. This is one of the most beautiful features of sima.
Another is that it has a very long shelf life. As I mentioned above, bacteria feed on sugar. As long as the sugar in it is not used up, the lemonade will not go bad, but it will become sour. If you want to extend the life of the lemonade, you can add sugar and mix it as the amount of sugar decreases.
Enjoy the recipe...
Fermented Lemonade Sima with Video
Ingredients
- 1 lemon,
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar,
- 1/2 cup of white sugar,
- 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast or instant yeast,
- 1 liter of boiling water,
- 1 liter of room temperature water.
Preparation
- Peel the yellow rind of the lemons and take them in a deep bowl,
- Peel off the white skins and throw them away,
- Slice the lemon and add it in the bowl,
- Add sugars and boiling water and mix,
- After the water becomes warm, add water at room temperature and yeast and mix,
- Cover it and leave it at room temperature for 2 days (until it starts to bubble),
- Strain and transfer to glass bottles and keep in the refrigerator for 5-6 days before serving.
Enjoy...