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Birch sap is a national drink, the pride of the Russian people. For a long time, this healing natural elixir helped and saved from many ailments, especially in a difficult spring time, when all winter reserves are coming to an end, and there are still no fresh green vitamins. To preserve the beneficial properties of birch sap, various drinks were prepared from it: kvass, honey, wine, champagne, mash. The recipe for kvass from birch sap on barley has survived today as one of the most popular in the Russian people. This drink, having a rather pungent taste and thick rich aroma, most of all resembles traditional bread kvass. Perhaps this is the main secret of his popularity.
The benefits of homemade birch sap kvass on barley
By itself, birch sap is a refreshing, invigorating and very tasty drink, with a slight hint of sweetness. All its rich composition is completely preserved and transferred to home-cooked kvass. In addition to a rich set of vitamins and various useful minerals (potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium), homemade birch kvass contains organic acids and tannins, fruit sugar and plant hormones, enzymes and phytoncides.
The sugar content of natural birch sap can vary from 0.5 to 3%, depending on the location and conditions of the tree. Most often, this is enough to make a tasty and healthy drink, since sugar is traditionally not added to birch kvass on barley.
All of this rich content provides indispensable help in the healing of many ailments.
- Due to its special tonic and restorative effect, it is useful to drink birch kvass when the body is in a weakened state after serious illnesses or operations, with loss of appetite, anemia and all ailments associated with increased fatigue.
- It has an anthelmintic, antipyretic and diuretic effect, so it can help with infectious diseases accompanied by high fever, bronchitis, sore throat, tuberculosis, as well as kidney disease. It is known that it is able to dissolve and remove stones from the body.
- It is no less useful for exacerbations of chronic diseases and severe intoxication.
- Possessing the properties of removing cholesterol from the body and lowering blood sugar, kvass will be useful for diabetics.
- Since birch kvass on barley is a wonderful blood-purifying agent, it is used for any diseases associated with metabolic disorders, as well as for rheumatism, gout, arthritis, venereal diseases.
- The drink can relieve high blood pressure and heart pain.
- Regular use of birch kvass on barley helps cleanse the skin, strengthens hair and teeth.
- Both antioxidant and antitumor properties of birch kvass are known.
- The healing effect of birch kvass on barley on diseases of the digestive system is also important: stomach ulcers, problems with the gallbladder, liver, duodenum.
- For men, this is a good remedy for impotence, and for women it is very useful to use kvass on barley during menopause.
- Well, and of course, this drink is a real panacea for vitamin deficiencies, scurvy and scrofula.
Possible contraindications to the intake of this drink can only be in case of detection of an individual intolerance to birch sap or an allergy to birch pollen. Birch kvass on barley should be used carefully for those who suffer from kidney stones and stomach and duodenal ulcers.
Secrets of making barley kvass on birch sap
The very process of making kvass from birch sap with the addition of barley is not complicated at all, any housewife, even a novice housewife, can handle it if desired. The hardest part, especially in a big city, is getting the right ingredients.
It is preferable to extract birch sap on your own. Only then can you be 100% sure of the quality of the extracted product. And the walk in the spring forest itself will definitely inspire, give strength and heal from a possible winter blues. This is usually done in early spring, depending on the region, in March or April.
Barley kernels are not easy to find in a regular grocery store. They are usually found in health food stores.
Some recipes use barley malt instead of the grains themselves. It can also be found on sale, if necessary, or it is easy to make it yourself. Since malt is just sprouted grains, in which the fermentation process began to take place, which is responsible for further fermentation of the product.
As already noted, in the classic recipe for making birch kvass with barley, sugar is usually absent. This allows you to make the drink as natural as possible, low in calories and healthy. True, it tastes somewhat harsh and will appeal to adults more than children. If you wish, sugar can be added to the ready-made drink so as not to provoke its further fermentation. The amount of barley added can also vary. Depending on the proportions used, the taste of the drink is more or less grainy.
Before using barley grains, it is customary to fry in a dry frying pan. This technique allows not only to give kvass a unique grain flavor, but also gives a rich brown color to the finished drink. Therefore, the roasting time directly determines both the taste of kvass and its color saturation. If the barley grains are fried only until slightly golden in color, then the taste of the drink will turn out to be rather delicate, and the color will be light brown, golden.
If you hold the grains in the pan for a longer time, you can get a dark brown drink with a rich and even pungent taste with a slight bitterness.
The taste of birch kvass on barley is also determined by the time during which it is infused in the warmth. With an increase in this time period, the taste of kvass becomes more and more sharp and thick.
To increase the healthfulness of the drink, a variety of fruits and medicinal herbs are sometimes added to it when infused: rose hips, hawthorn, caraway seeds, linden flowers, thyme, chamomile, pine needles and more.
The classic recipe for kvass from birch sap on barley
To prepare birch kvass on barley according to the classic recipe, you will need:
- 10 liters of freshly mined birch sap;
- 500 g of barley grains.
Manufacturing:
- Freshly harvested juice must first be filtered through a sieve with gauze laid at the bottom to get rid of possible forest contamination: pieces of bark, wood chips, shavings or insects.
- Then it is covered with a lid and placed in a cool place for 1-2 days.
- Barley grains are washed in cool water and dried to a crumbly state. They do not need to be cleaned or otherwise processed.
- Dried barley grains are poured into a dry frying pan without oil or other fat and fried over medium heat for a while.The roasting period is determined depending on what result they want to get in the end, which was discussed in detail in the previous chapter.
- Birch sap is poured into a prepared sourdough container and fried barley is poured into the same.Comment! If you want to do everything neatly, so that the barley grains do not float over the entire volume of the juice, then they are placed in a gauze bag, which is tied and placed in a container with juice.
- Stir the juice slightly, cover the neck of the container on top with a piece of linen cloth or gauze and leave in a relatively warm place (temperature + 21-26 ° C).
- Kvass is infused for 2 to 4 days, depending on the desired taste of the final product. After a day, you can taste it and evaluate whether it needs to be left for further fermentation.
- The drink must be stirred every day.
- When it is decided that the kvass is ready, it is filtered again and poured into separate bottles with tight-fitting lids.
Since the fermentation process will continue after clogging, only with a much lower intensity even in a relatively cold place, then bottles should not be filled to the neck when bottling. At the top of them, you must leave 5-7 cm of free space.
Drink rules
Natural birch kvass on barley is perfect for making traditional Russian okroshka.
On average, the following dosage regimen is used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases: 200 ml of kvass are consumed daily half an hour before meals, up to 3 times a day. It is enough to carry out such a course for 2 or 3 weeks in order to feel significant relief and a surge of strength.
In order for kvass from birch and barley sap to be preserved for a long time (up to six months), it must be sealed as tightly as possible and kept in a cool or even cold room without light. When preparing small volumes of kvass, a refrigerator is perfect for these purposes.
Conclusion
Among many similar preparations, the recipe for kvass from birch sap on barley is one of the most natural and healthy. Indeed, it does not even contain sugar, however, the drink can retain its beneficial properties for up to 6 months.
