Pineapple Ginger Shrub (Hot Process)

Before you start

The hot method makes a shrub in an afternoon. Instead of waiting for sugar to pull juice from fruit, you simmer pineapple and ginger into a syrup, steep it off the heat, then blend in vinegar once it has cooled. Pineapple suits this approach well: it is firm, takes a long time to release juice in sugar alone, and its flavor holds up to gentle cooking.

Heat does mute the fresh, perfumed side of fruit, so the finished shrub tastes rounder and a little more like cooked pineapple. Fresh ginger adds the high notes back. Keep the simmer short, add the vinegar only after the syrup has cooled, so its aroma does not cook off, and let the shrub rest a few hours in the refrigerator before drinking.

Ingredients

• 400 g (about 2½ cups) fresh pineapple — peeled, cored and cut into 2 cm chunks
• 40 g (a 7 cm piece) fresh ginger — thinly sliced; no need to peel
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 200 ml (¾ cup plus 1 tbsp) water
• 200 ml (¾ cup plus 1 tbsp) apple cider vinegar — or unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 pinch fine salt

Method

1. Combine the pineapple, ginger, sugar, water and salt in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid looks clear.
2. Bring it to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, pressing the pineapple occasionally with the spoon. Keep the bubbles small; a hard boil makes it taste like canned fruit.
3. Take the pan off the heat and let it steep, uncovered, for 30 minutes so the ginger keeps infusing as it cools.
4. Strain into a heatproof bowl, pressing firmly on the solids to extract the syrup. You should have about 350 ml.
5. Let the syrup cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Stir in the vinegar, taste, and add up to 15 ml more vinegar if you want it sharper.
6. Funnel into a clean bottle and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before using.
7. For a drink, add 30 ml (1 oz) shrub to a tall glass of ice and top with 150 to 180 ml (5 to 6 oz) soda water.

Tips for success

• Use the ripest pineapple you have. Fragrant fruit with a slightly soft base gives a much fuller shrub than a pale, hard one.
• Thin ginger slices extract quickly. For a fiercer shrub, grate the ginger instead, but strain through a finer mesh afterward.
• The cooked pineapple chunks are good chopped over ice cream or yogurt. Use them within 2 days, refrigerated.

Substitutions

Apple cider vinegar

Rice vinegar is softer and lets the pineapple lead. Coconut vinegar adds a faintly tropical, yeasty note that suits this fruit.

Granulated sugar

Light brown sugar or piloncillo adds caramel depth. Use the same weight.

Fresh pineapple

Canned pineapple in juice works; drain it, use the juice as part of the water, and reduce sugar by about 25 g because the fruit is already sweet.

Variations

Spiced pineapple shrub

Add 1 cinnamon stick and 2 whole cloves to the saucepan with the fruit. Strain them out with the solids.

Pineapple chili

Add half a sliced red chili, seeds removed, for the last 5 minutes of simmering.

Troubleshooting

The shrub tastes cooked or jammy

It boiled too hard or too long. Keep to a gentle 10-minute simmer and steep off the heat instead.

The vinegar smell is weak

The vinegar was added while the syrup was hot. Let the syrup cool fully before mixing so the aroma stays in the bottle.

It is cloudy

Pressed pineapple pulp clouds the syrup. It is harmless; for a clear shrub, strain again through a coffee filter.

Storage

Refrigerate the shrub in a clean, closed bottle and use it within 1 month. Discard it if mold appears or it smells yeasty. Keep the cooked fruit separately in the refrigerator and eat it within 2 days.