Vegan Carrot Peel Honey

This recipe produces a delicious syrup which makes a great vegan substitute for honey. It’s perfect for glazes, salad dressings, or any recipe where you’d traditionally use honey.

This recipe is perfect for creating a zero waste kitchen – utilising carrot peelings that normally go to waste – but if you prefer/don’t have enough peelings you can use whole carrots instead.

The recipe begins by making a carrot amazake, which is then freeze clarified and reduced to a syrup. It takes a while to make, but most of the steps require simply waiting – the actual time spent making this honey is quite small and is well worth it if you’re looking to create stunning vegan dishes!

Vegan Carrot Peel Honey

Make a vegan delicious honey from carrots scraps
Prep Time1 day 40 minutes
Cook Time8 hours
Freezing time8 hours
Course: Ingredient
Cuisine: British
Keyword: amazake, carrots, honey

Equipment

  • Dehydrator/slow cooker Something capable of holding food at 60C
  • 1 Saucepan
  • 1 Food Processor

Ingredients

  • 200 g White Rice Koji
  • 200 g White Rice Cooked
  • 400 g Water
  • 125 g Carrot Peelings or Carrots

Instructions

  • This recipe is perfect for creating a zero waste kitchen - utilising carrot peelings that normally go to waste - but if you prefer/don't have enough peelings you can use whole carrots instead.
  • Puree all the ingredients in a blender
  • Transfer to a jar, cover and leave in a dehydrator set to 60C for 8 hours (or use a rice cooker/slow cooker/sous vide/any other kitchen gadget that can hold food at 60C)
  • Freeze the mixture (which is a carrot amazake) and then leave the block to melt through a muslin. This is a great way to clarify the solution.
  • The carrot amazake melts to leave a clear solution
  • Place the clear liquid in a saucepan and heat on low until the liquid reduces to thick syrup.
  • Enjoy your vegan carrot honey!

Cold Brew Amazake

Filtered Cold Brew Amazake

Amazake is a traditional Japanese drink made from koji. It can be drunk ice cold in Summer, or gently heated to provide a delicious warm drink in Winter.

It has recently been labeled as a super food due to it’s high nutritional content – including complex B vitamins and all the amino acids the body needs. It also contains oligosaccharide, a prebiotic important for gut health. 

Amazake is normally made (see the Traditional Amazake Recipe) by holding a mixture of koji, rice and water at 60°C, but this requires specialist equipment.  If you’d like to make amazake at home, using just a fridge, then you have to wait a little bit longer for your amazake to be ready (7 days) but it is well worth the wait!

It is really important that all equipment is sterilised before use. Amazake is normally made at 60°C, which helps to prevent dangerous bacteria from growing. Cold brewing is much more likely to result in bacterial growth, so special care must be taken to ensure everything is spotlessly clean before making amazake in this way.

  • Sterilise all equipment before use.
  • Ensure the fridge is kept cool (3- 4°C)
  • Keep the amazake tightly sealed throughout the brewing process, to prevent bacteria from entering.
  • Minimise the amount of air inside the brewing vessel by using the right sized vessel for the amount you’re brewing – you can add some extra cooled, boiled water to top up vessel if required.

If you follow strict hygiene practices you should create a safe, delicious, nutritious drink. But if you want to be extra cautious you could boil your amazake before drinking to ensure no nasties are present.

Which rice to use?

Any type of rice can be used to make amazake. In fact, you can even replace the rice with another source of carbohydrate, like oats, quinoa or buckwheat. Brown rice will result in a darker, nuttier flavour drink; whilst white rice tends to be a cleaner, sweeter flavour. Traditionally, amazake is made with mochi rice – this is a short grain Japonica rice, which is especially glutinous (sticky, not containing gluten) But just start with whatever is easiest for you to source and experiment from there.

Cold Brew Amazake

Amazake is normally made quickly, at 60°C. This recipe enables those without the ability to hold food at 60°C to make amazake at home in the fridge.
Prep Time30 minutes
7 days
Total Time7 days 30 minutes
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: amazake, Koji

Ingredients

  • 250 ml water boiled, then cooled
  • 100 g koji
  • 50 g cooked rice

Instructions

  • It is really important that all equipment is sterilised before use. Amazake is normally made at 60°C, which helps to prevent dangerous bacteria from growing. Cold brewing is much more likely to result in bacterial growth, so special care must be taken to ensure everything is spotlessly clean before making amazake in this way. I boiled the jars/bottles/spoons in water before use. Other methods of sterilisation are good (eg. commercially available sterilising solutions), but double check they are safe for use on metal/plastic, if that is what you're using.
  • Add the koji, cooked rice (any type of rice is fine, see notes below) and boiled water (which has been cooled to room temperature) to each bottle (the amounts can be scaled up/down for different sized bottles) This can be quite fiddly for small necked bottles - like the ones I used! I recommend using a wider necked jar.
  • Store in the fridge for one week.
  • The amazake is now ready! You can drink it as it is. FIlter the rice out for a clear, crisp drink that is delicious cold. Blend the rice in, for a creamy drink that is delicious hot. Or experiment with adding different flavours - eg cinnamon to hot, creamy amazake or fruit syrups to cold filtered amazake. Enjoy!