Sunday, May 1, 2011

Japanese Knotweed Recipe - Knotweed Jelly

Japanese knotweed Jelly served over yogurt
This recipe took a few tries to get correct, and we are very happy with the final product. One characteristic of the knotweed is that it is not very juicy. Usually when you make jelly, you are using a fruit juice. This is made with more of a knotweed infusion. Through trial and error, I found that I needed to start with a lot of water and even more chopped knotweed than you would think to end up with enough "juice" for the jelly recipe. The color is surprisingly pink, we were expecting green.

Japanese Knotweed Jelly    makes 6- 8oz. jars

4 c. water
8 c. chopped Japanese knotweed stalks, leaves removed

1. Add the water and the chopped knotweed stalks to a large pot. Bring the water up to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool, then hang the stewed knotweed in a jelly bag or in cheesecloth, and allow it to drip for an hour or two. You need to end up with 3 1/4 c. knotweed juice.

3 1/4 c. knotweed juice
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 box Sure-Jell powdered pectin (1.75 oz.)
4 c. sugar

2. Put the knotweed juice, lemon juice, and pectin into a large pot. Bring it up to a rolling boil.
3. Add all the sugar at once. Bring it back up to a rolling boil, and boil 1 minute while stirring constantly.
4. Remove from the heat and ladle it into hot, sterilized jars, cover. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes, cool.
at

15 comments:

  1. Ellen ZachosMay 4, 2011 at 5:39 PM

    Does it taste lemon-y? I'm going to try your recipe this weekend.

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  2. The 3 ForagersMay 5, 2011 at 10:57 AM

    Knotweed really has it's own taste, but I'll give this a try. There is a tartness that can pucker your lips, almost like green apples. These is also a green, vegetal flavor, but that does not come through in the jelly. There is a fruitiness, too.

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  3. AnonymousMay 9, 2011 at 1:34 AM

    I just discovered that the huge stand of "fake bamboo" on the far side of my neighbour's house is actually knotweed. I picked some young shoots today and made itadori tea...beautiful pink colour and lemony in taste. I can't wait to give your jelly recipe a try.

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  4. AnneMarch 17, 2012 at 6:42 PM

    Are you making this with shoots or adult stalks? Thanks!

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  5. The 3 ForagersMarch 17, 2012 at 9:42 PM

    We use the stalks that are about 8"-12" tall to make jelly. If you let them grow too high, there is more string and less flesh, and you really want the flavor of the flesh. I suppose shoots would work too, since they are even more tender than 8" stalks. Good luck! Let us know how t works out for you, Karen

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  6. Pete HopeFebruary 25, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    Oh wow, I've not seen anything like this made with japanese knotweed before, I might have to give

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  7. Janet PesaturoMay 26, 2014 at 9:08 AM

    In my experience, the flavor and color of the juice depends on age of stalk. Less than 3 ft tall young stalks produce pink juice while older stalks produce greenish, blander juice.

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  8. UnknownMarch 29, 2015 at 8:10 PM

    What do you think about using a vegetable juicer instead of boiling the knotweed? I'm excited to try this recipe, using fresh-pressed knotweed juice! I may need a few more cups of shoots, but could probably skip shaving the peels off. Thoughts?

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  9. The 3 ForagersMarch 31, 2015 at 8:01 AM

    We have never juiced raw knotweed, but I imagine the results would be green, mucilaginous, and cloudy. Who knows? We never imagined that by cooking it lightly, the resulting juice would be pink, so give it a try.

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  10. AnonymousApril 18, 2015 at 12:30 AM

    Hello, I've made this jelly 4-5 times and it's a favorite at my house. Thank you for sharing it! I apologize if this is a dumb question. I don't know a lot about making jelly so I follow directions exactly. Is it possible to back off of the sugar with this jelly?

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  11. The 3 ForagersApril 18, 2015 at 11:20 PM

    No idea on lower-sugar recipes. We just post what we make, sugar and all.

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  12. Dave LenweaverMay 15, 2015 at 12:39 AM

    I'll have tor try this. We have a mess of it down the road a bit. Low sugar recipe could be made with Pomona's Pectin but you'll have to play with the recipe to get the proportions down.

    Dave, cleanslatefarm.com

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  13. AnonymousAugust 4, 2015 at 9:42 PM

    When you trim the leaves off of the stalks do you get that white, white milky stuff? It sticks to the leaves and stalks. Can you eat it? I want to ferment it like a kraut, but I don't know about the white milk stuff! It would be my luck that it will make me sick.

    Anybody know?

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  14. AnonymousAugust 4, 2015 at 9:49 PM

    Dave!

    Ferment it with smashed up leaves and stems... and use whey as the fermentation agent. You will get a great knotweed. Then do a second ferment with your other stuff... and then add sugar or honey when it's ready to go!!

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  15. UnknownApril 20, 2018 at 9:09 PM

    i have just discovered japanese knotweed as it is a spectacularly helpful remedy for the symptoms of Lyme Disease! Stephen Buhner is the master herbalist and Lyme expert that has done immense study on this, his book is called Healing Lyme (look for the second edition). After buying tinctures in the health food store, i learned to identify it growing wild in the woods of CT, and I dug up the roots and simmered them into a good strong tea (using a hatchet to break up the bigger roots). This has alleviated my symptoms considerably, and it is found that the elements are able to reach the tissues where the bacteria reside. It is also an amazing anti-inflammatory, as well as a powerful anti-oxidant In fact, it is higher in resveratrol than even grape skins! Now that it is early spring, i just gathered some young shoots and steamed them and served with butter.... quite good! Looking forward to trying the taller shoots and young leaves as well!

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