Rhubarb Juice
Rhubarb is a welcome sign of spring. More often than not we have heard of rhubarb being used in pies. Baking, however, is an activity that requires some focused time. Staying in Singapore, I am always game for trying out thirst quenchers to beat the heat. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know by now that I love to try out new ingredients and rhubarb perfectly hits the intrigue factor. They look like red celery sticks and translate into a lovely ruby coloured juice. You can create alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic beverages with rhubarbs. With respect to health benefits, rhubarbs are full of fiber, potassium and Vitamin C. The thing to bear in mind is rhubarbs are highly tart and hence adding appropriate amounts of water to this juice is imperative. You can mix it with lemonade as a variant. At the end, seeing the pleasing colour of the juice was definitely satisfying. The best part about this juice is that no sugar is required for preparation!
Recipe Details :
Makes: 3-4 glasses
Time: 30 mins
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients :
- 4-5 stalks of rhubarb, without leaves
- 1 split vanilla bean / 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 4-5 cups water
Method:
- Wash the rhubarb in cold water, cut off the leaves and trim the ends. And then cut it into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Place the cut rhubarb stalks in a pot and cover it with enough cold water till they are just floating.
- Cover the pot with a lid. Bring the water to a boil on low flame, stirring occasionally.
- When all the rhubarb stalks have broken down to uniform soup kind of consistency, switch off the flame. This should take around 15 mins.
- Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, strain it through a mesh strainer.
- If the pulp becomes a mass, you can press the strainer with a wooden spoon and drain off the liquid.
- Once the liquid is drained, refrigerate it immediately. Your light pink colored rhubarb juice is ready.
- To serve, dilute your juice with water, lemonade, and / or ice and serve!
Tips:
- Do not boil the rhubarb stalks for a prolonged period, they can get bitter.
- With the rhubarb pulp, you can add it to yogurt and get a sweet high.
- For those staying in Singapore, rhubarb stalks can be found in Fairprice Finest.