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Japanese Knotweed and Elderflower Drink
Japanese Knotweed and Elderflower Drink is a modern British recipe for a classic drink made from elderflowers and Japanese knotweed. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Japanese Knotweed and Elderflower Drink.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
15 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Additional Time:
(+cooling)
Serves:
6
Rating: 
Tags : Wild FoodBritish Recipes
Elderflower and Japanese knotweed just overlap in May. By this time, the Japanese kntweed is past it's best and is becoming tough and woody. You can still find stems that are only just becoming tough and these can be combined with the first of the elderflower flower heads to make a really nice drink.
Ingredients:
5 lage, fresh, open elderflower flower heads
750g (about) Japanese knotweed stems (ones that are just becoming tough are fine)
1.5l water
100g sugar (adjust to taste)
Method:
Remove all the leaves from the knotweed (microwave these to kill them before discarding) then chop the stems coarsely. Pour the water into a pan, bring to a boil, add the knotweed stems and cook for 10 minutes. After this time drain them (reserve the liquid) and mash with a potato masher.
Place the mashed knotweed in a fine-meshed sieve lined with a clean cloth then pour over the reserved liquid (wring out any leftovers). Add the strained liquid to a new pan with the sugar. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves then bring to a boil then take off the heat and add the elderflower heads. Set aside to cool completely.
At this point, transfer the liquid to a jug chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours then enjoy.
