Health claims aside, this is delicious, hot or iced, sweetened or not. You can make another interesting tea by omitting the lemongrass and serving the brew with milk instead of lime juice.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon black tea, optional
10 nickel-sized slices fresh ginger (don’t bother to peel)
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed (page 143) and roughly chopped
Sugar to taste, optional
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
Preparation
Step 1
In a small pot with a lid, combine 1 quart water with the tea if you’re using it, the ginger, and the lemongrass. Turn the heat to medium and heat until steam rises from the surface. Turn off the heat and cover; steep for 5 minutes.
Step 2
Strain, then return to the pan and reheat gently. Add sugar, then lime juice to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve cold.
The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.
MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
