Chanh Dao Ngam Mat Ong (Honey Steeped Pink Limes), Sweetened with Monk Fruit
Sweets and drinksDrinksVietnam20 minutes to prepare, 2 weeks of steeping before it can be used, best after 1 to 2 months
Chanh dao ngam mat ong is a long steep: the limes are sliced and layered, honey covers them completely, and the jar sits somewhere cool while the slices give up their juice and then draw it back in. Two weeks in it is ready to use, and one to two months in it smells its best.
The hard part is keeping mold out. Everything that touches the jar has to be dry: dry jar, dry lime slices, dry spoon. The usual slip is letting slices float above the honey, and that exposed patch is exactly where mold starts.
This batch weighs about 4.5kg, at roughly 77 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash 1 kg pink limes in lightly salted water, rub the skins gently with 5 gr coarse salt to take off the bitterness and the dust, rinse again and pat dry with a cloth.
Cut the limes into slices about 0.5 to 0.7 cm thick. The seeds can stay in.
If a dehydrator is on hand, dry the slices gently at 40 to 50 degrees for 1 to 2 hours to draw out water and limit fermenting.
Sanitize the 2 litre glass jar with warm salted water or steam it, then let it dry thoroughly.
Lay a layer of lime slices in the bottom of the jar, scatter an even layer of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend powder over the top, and repeat the lime and blend layers until all 500 gr of the blend is used.
Pour in 1 litre of pure honey to cover the limes completely, leaving about 3 cm below the rim for the limes to expand.
Seal the lid and keep the jar somewhere cool and out of the sun. For the first three to five days, open the lid and press the limes down gently with a clean spoon so they stay submerged and the floating pieces do not go moldy.
Tips
Honey is still sugar, so even pure honey is worth keeping to a small amount each day.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend is a fine powder, so a thin even layer across the lime slices is all it takes, with no need to heap it up.
The jar and the lime slices have to be completely dry before steeping, since any water left behind spoils the whole batch.
Never scoop from the jar with a wet spoon or one that has been in someone's mouth.
To serve, stir 1 tablespoon of the honey lime liquid into warm water at about 40 degrees. Children from 4 to 5 years old and up take only 1 small teaspoon at a time.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.