So, in my last post I mentioned I had a weakness for ginger chews. I’m not sure how I can really express my affinity for these treats without the ability to make yum noises. Anyway, I love ginger chews. They are really a simple candy: ginger, tapioca starch, and sugar. However, since theses are a candy and not whole food by any streatch of the imagination, I have decided to see what I can invent to substitute. This is ginger candy attempt number one.


Ginger Candy Attempt #1

50g Chia Seeds
45g Ginger Juice
1-1/3 Water
Stevia

I decided to try the chia since they make a nice gel when soaked. To get the ginger juice, I just ran some ginger though my juicer until I thought I had what would be enough – which turned out to be ~45g. I combined the water, ginger, chia, and stevia and mixed well. I let the mix sit in the fridge for a day, stirring a couple of times just to keep the mix homogeneous. I then spread the mix into a ~8-9″ square on a dehydrator sheet, and dehydrated at 115F for 6 hours. At this point the goo had considerably shrunk and was dry on top. I peeled off the chia-ginger sheet and flipped it over. The bottom was moist, but I sprayed it with water to moisten it more. I then folded the sheet in half and pressed the wet sides together so they would stick. I allowed it to sit for about 30 min then I cut the sheet into strips with kitchen scissors.

How did it do? Taste is good; a nice sweet ginger is the prominent flavor with undertones of chia. Texture was neat, there was a little crunch from the seeds which was nice. However, I missed the chewy aspect of the tapioca starch. I am a texture freak. So, in the future, I want to improve on the texture. Maybe by adding some fruit to the chia to bulk it up a bit. Hum…..