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Standard Recipe for Soaking Delicious Dried Cat Apple Wine in the Western Northwest. Only those with years of experience know this technique.
1/ Choosing Quality Cat Apples for Wine Soaking
In the Western Northwest, you can use fresh or dried cat apples to soak wine. Depending on individual preferences, one can choose to soak cat apple wine with fresh cat apples or dried ones.
The Art of Soaking Delicious Cat Apple Wine: Choosing Premium Highland Cat Apples
1.1/ Selecting the Freshest Cat Apples for Ultimate Wine Soaking Experience
To make delicious Northwest cat apple wine, one must use Vietnamese cat apples, avoiding Chinese ones. The finest cat apples are found in districts like Mù Cang Chải, Tú Lệ, Văn Chấn,... in Yên Bái province or in provinces like Lào Cai and Phù Yên Sơn La.
Best Time to Purchase Cat Apples for Wine Soaking
Opt for cat apples during mid-season, roughly from August to late October (in the Gregorian calendar) for liquor infusion. This period offers the most aromatic and flavorful cat apples. Fresh cat apples also come at a cheaper price, around: 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg.
How to pick delicious fresh cat apples.
Avoid selecting overly large fruits as they tend to hold more water, resulting in a less fragrant infusion. Choose cat apples that are just the right size, with a blush, ripe, yellow-red color.
Avoid picking excessively large cat apples.
Don't fret: even if the apple looks a bit bruised or the cat apple has worms, it's because they grow wild in the forests and aren't tended to. Besides, the Northwest region often experiences hailstorms, so the appearance of the apples might not be perfect, but their quality remains unaffected.
1.2/ How to select dried cat apples soaked in alcohol.
When purchasing dried cat apples soaked in alcohol, opt for slightly blackened ones, as fresh cat apples sliced and air-dried often contain a lot of resin, resulting in a black color. Avoid buying dried cat apples with bright, appealing appearances as many vendors use chemicals to bleach and enhance their looks. Prices for dried cat apples range from 80,000 to 100,000 VND per kilogram.
Do not choose dried cat apples based on their attractive appearance.
2/ Step-by-step guide to soaking cat apples in alcohol just like the people of the Northwest.
Method for soaking fresh cat apples in honey.
Step 1: Preparing the cat apples.
- Clean the cat apples thoroughly, discard any damaged ones, and let them dry.
- If you're soaking the whole apple, cut off both ends and slice it horizontally to ensure the seeds stay intact. Alternatively, you can slice the apple (while keeping the seeds).
Note: the authentic Northwest cat apple soaking method requires keeping the seeds intact.
- To reduce the bitterness of the cat apples and the astringency of Northwest cat apple wine, soak the sliced cat apples in diluted saltwater for about 45 minutes, then drain them.
Step 2: Executing the method of soaking cat apples in wild honey.
- Mix the apples and wild honey in a ratio of 3:2 (3 kg of apples soaked with 2 liters of wild honey). If you don't have wild honey, you can substitute it with regular honey or sugar, in equivalent amounts.
Note: If soaking with sugar, layer the apples and sugar alternately until finished.
Soaking cat apples in honey allows for long-term preservation.
Standard recipe for soaking dried cat apples Northwest style.
Step 1: Cleanse.
- After purchasing dried cat apples, rinse them once with lukewarm water, then rinse them once with alcohol. To conserve alcohol, you can pour it into a large bowl and dip the dried apples in it several times.
Note: The alcohol used to rinse dried cat apples is the same alcohol used for soaking.
Step 2: Proceed with soaking dried cat apples.
- The method of soaking delicious dried cat apples, practiced by the people of the Northwest, is in the ratio of 1:3 or 1:5 (1 kg of dried cat apples soaked with 3 or 5 liters of alcohol).
The soaking ratio for dried cat apples is 1:3 or 1:5
3/ Choosing the right container for soaking delicious Northwest cat apple wine.
To achieve the most authentic and fragrant taste of Northwest specialty, you should use glass containers (without spouts) or baked clay containers at a temperature of 1000 degrees, which are the highest-grade soaking containers.
Method for soaking delicious cat apple wine: Use glass containers
4/ Method for soaking delicious cat apple wine: Must choose the right wine
The best way to soak delicious cat apple wine is to use alcohol with an alcohol content of 40 – 45 degrees, avoiding alcohol that is too light or too heavy, as it won't bring out the fragrance of the cat apples.
5/ Method for soaking delicious cat apple wine: Pay attention to soaking time and storage method
Soaking time for cat apple wine.
A good Northwest wine container must be soaked for at least 6 months. Only then do the cat apples release their essence and the wine attains its best flavor.
Method for preserving a good Northwest wine container.
Store the soaked wine in a cool, shaded place away from direct sunlight, in a cool environment, and protect it from external water damage. Make sure to seal the wine container tightly. Drinking cat apple wine is also quite simple: pour the wine from the container and you can reuse the soaked cat apples for a second round, although the quality won't be as good as the first.
6/ What are the benefits of cat apple wine?
Cat apple wine is one of the specialties of the Northwest that is very beneficial for health, helping: fight oxidation, reduce blood fat, improve brain circulation, stimulate digestion and appetite, etc.
So why hesitate? Ladies, why not start soaking a container of cat apple wine – a delicious Northwest specialty for your loved ones at home. Also, when it comes to drinking wine, why not choose ones that are good for your health?
Like, comment if you have another delicious method for soaking cat apple wine, and follow Regional Specialties – PasGo Blog to explore Vietnamese specialties together.
The extraordinary Thuy Dung
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