Ingredients:
makes about 1,8 l (0.45 gal)
|
Notes:
Chewing yucca and spitting it is a low-tech means of starch conversion into fermentable sugars. If you’re ever offered a glass or a bowl of chicha, you basically have to drink it. It’s a social faux pas to reject a bowl. Time needed:
2 hours for peeling and boiling the yucca +1 hour for chewing the yucca 1 to 7 days for fermenting chicha Time (5hr) x Local living wage ($13.50) + Est. Expenses & Utilities ($8) / jars = $18.87 per jar
|
Directions:
- Peel, chop, and wash the yucca.
- Place the yucca in the pot. Cover it with water and let it boil for around 30 minutes until it's soft.
- Strain the water but keep it in a bowl or container. If you don't have a strainer, just fish the pieces with a fork and save the water for later.
- Mash the yucca with a fork or similar tool. You aim to obtain a relatively homogeneous paste.
- Put a small ball of yucca to your mouth and chew it until it becomes watery and plane. Spit it out. It is more appealing to have two bowls: one with the smooth and mushy yucca that has already been chewed, and another one with yucca that is ready for chewing. If there are more chewers, it might be best that everybody has a set of 2 bowls.
- Put all the chewed yucca into one container and add the water previously leftover.
- Add spices if you wish.
- Cover it with a cloth or cap and set aside to ferment for 1 to 7 days, or longer, depending on the taste.
- After the process is over you can pasteurize the fermented drink to make it more appealing to other people.
- Make sure that your chicha is placed in a glass container with a cap, and that you have a pot which is at least as tall as the container. You can always separate your chicha into a couple of smaller jars so they fit into your pot.
- Put a rack or piece of cloth on the bottom of the pot.
- Place the glass containers in the pot and fill it with water, making sure the caps rise above water level.
- Bring everything to boil for at least a couple of minutes.
- After that, take the containers out and let them cool down.
- Make sure that your chicha is placed in a glass container with a cap, and that you have a pot which is at least as tall as the container. You can always separate your chicha into a couple of smaller jars so they fit into your pot.