Ingredients
The ginger
- 300 gfresh ginger
- roughly chopped
The liquid
- 1.5 litreswater
- boiled and cooled
- or filtered water
The sweetening
- 200 gsugar
- or to taste
The flavouring
- juice of 4 limes
- or 3 lemons
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoonvanilla, optional
Equipment
- a blender
- a fine sieve and muslin
- clean bottles
- ice, to serve
Directions
- Use mature ginger rather than young. Look for firm plump rhizomes. Chop the ginger roughly. Blend it with half the water.
- Blend for a full two or three minutes. Blend beyond the point it looks done. Pour it into a large bowl with the rest of the water.
- Cover it and leave it at least four hours. The ginger keeps giving up heat as it stands. Line a sieve with muslin over a bowl. Pour the mixture through. Twist the cloth and squeeze hard.
- Return the pulp to the bowl. Add half a litre more water. Work it and strain again. Wash your hands after squeezing. Do not rub your eyes. Add sugar gradually and taste.
- Stir until every grain dissolves. It should read sweet first. Add the lime or lemon juice generously.
- Pour it into clean bottles. Refrigerate it at least three hours. Keep it refrigerated at all times. Use clean bottles and clean utensils.
- Discard it if it fizzes or smells fermented. Anyone taking such medication should ask a doctor. Serve it very cold over plenty of ice. Shake it before pouring. It keeps four days refrigerated.
Technique
- The atlas holds four closely related entries for this drink — from the Central African Republic, from Côte d’Ivoire as gnamankoudji, from Burkina Faso as jus de gingembre, and this one. They are not meaningfully different recipes. The drink is made across the whole region and every language has its own name for it; recording it under each reflects that rather than inventing distinctions.
- Blend for a full two or three minutes, beyond the point it looks done. Ginger fibre holds its juice tightly and a short blend leaves most of the flavour in the pulp.
- Steep at least four hours, preferably overnight, and taste only afterwards. It keeps strengthening as it stands — and steep it refrigerated in warm weather, or wild fermentation begins.
- Do a second extraction: return the pulp, add half a litre of water, work it and strain again. It yields a surprising amount and makes the ginger go considerably further.
- Get the sweet-then-burn sequence right. It should read sweet at the front with the ginger arriving after; under-sweetened it is simply painful, over-sweetened the burn disappears.
- Use mature ginger, which is hotter and more fibrous than young. Scrape the skin with the edge of a teaspoon rather than a peeler, which wastes far less flesh — and for a strained drink, scrubbing and leaving it on is fine.
- Wash your hands after squeezing the pulp and do not rub your eyes. Ginger juice stings cut skin and irritates eyes badly.
- A pinch of salt sharpens both the sweetness and the sourness and is worth adding.
- This is unpasteurised and never heated, so it is not preserved. Keep it refrigerated, use clean bottles, drink it within three or four days, and discard it if it fizzes or smells fermented.
- A concentrated ginger drink can irritate the stomach in quantity, and an interaction with blood-thinning medication is sometimes noted on limited evidence mostly concerning supplements. The atlas records that the question exists and leaves it to a doctor.
- The Spanish name is unremarkable in Equatorial Guinea, which was a Spanish colony until 1968 and has Spanish, French and Portuguese as official languages alongside Fang, Bubi and others.
Substitutions
- Lemon replaces lime and is used interchangeably.
- Honey replaces sugar, stirred in cold.
- Vanilla or mint round off the harshness and are added in some versions.
- Less ginger makes a gentler drink.
- Sparkling water in place of some still water makes a fizzy version.
- A concentrated syrup, diluted to order, keeps far longer than the finished drink.
Variations
- Gnamankoudji in Côte d’Ivoire is the fiercest version of the same drink.
- Jus de gingembre in Burkina Faso is sold frozen in sachets.
- Ginger juice in the Central African Republic is the gentler version.
- A lightly fermented version, started with pineapple skin, becomes gently fizzy.
- Bissap, from dried hibiscus, is the other great cold drink of the region.
- Osang and other local infusions are drunk hot in the same country.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zumo de jengibre?
Zumo de jengibre is a drink from Equatorial Guinea: fresh ginger blended with water, lime and sugar, strained and served cold.
How long does Zumo de jengibre take to make?
Zumo de jengibre takes 20 minutes plus steeping of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Zumo de jengibre?
Yes, within limits. Lemon replaces lime and is used interchangeably. Honey replaces sugar, stirred in cold. Vanilla or mint round off the harshness and are added in some versions. Less ginger makes a gentler drink. Sparkling water in place of some still water makes a fizzy version. A concentrated syrup, diluted to order, keeps far longer than the finished drink.
What is the most important thing to get right in Zumo de jengibre?
Use mature ginger rather than young. Look for firm plump rhizomes. Chop the ginger roughly. Blend it with half the water.
