Japanese Knotweed and Pineapple Marmalade is a modern British recipe for a classic wild food marmalade made from Japanese knotweed shoot pieces stewed with sugar and jaggery that's finished with pineapple and stewed until dark. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Japanese Knotweed and Pineapple Marmalade.
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The main difference between a Jam and a Marmalade is the length of time it's cooked for. Marmalades are cooked longer so the sugar becomes caramelized and goes darker. I'd collected lots of Japanese knotweed stems and had bought a pineapple to make zobo so the flesh was available to make this marmalade. I also had a Nigerian chilli, a little past its best and some whole spices so I decide to use the knotweed, stew it down an prepare a breakfast marmalade from it.
Ingredients:
600g young Japanese knotweed stems, leaves and tips removed, stems scraped with a knife to remove leaf scales and cut into 2cm lengths
200g granulated sugar
150g brown caster sugar
3 pieces of jaggery (optional, substitute with 6 tbsp dark sugar)
100ml catkin syrup (or use honey or any other syrup you have)
1 Ata Rodo chilli (left whole)
1 blade of mace
1 cinnamon stick
4 allspice berries
1 star anise
1 slice of pineapple about 2cm thick cut into matchsticks
juice of 1/2 lemon
Method:
Combine the knotweed pieces, sugars, jaggery, syrup and water in a large saucepan. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until all the sugars have dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then add the spices. Continue cooking, partially covered, for 1 hour.
At this point add in the whole chilli (do not remove the stem), the lemon juice and the pineapple pieces. Continue cooking for about 2 hours more, or until the knotweed has broken down and the sugar has caramelised a dark brown.
Take off the heat then remove and discard the whole spices and the while chilli. Allow to cool slightly then spoon into sterilized jam jars that have been warmed in a low oven (you should get three jars). Seal securely then set aside to cool completely before labelling and storing in the refrigerator.
