Spring and summer are my favorite seasons of the year. I simply love the bright, warm sun and the feeling of being outdoors. My fondest memories of summer especially, are cookouts on the beach with my family. Nothing beats sharing good food with the people you love.
When I look back to those summer moments, I always remember my mom's limeade. Since limes are a prominent ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine, we always had limes in our house. Naturally, I grew up drinking limeade rather than lemonade.
Limeade is also widely available in Southeast Asia due to the abundance of limes and relative rarity of lemons, as lemons are not a native species. Two popular versions of limeade are lime soda and pickled lime soda, which has a sweet and salty taste resulting from the salt used to preserve the limes.
The limeade recipe I would like to share with you is quite similar to lemonade with the addition of a pinch of salt and of course, the usage of fresh limes rather than lemons. The incorporation of salt may sound odd, but it does enhance the flavor of the limes because salt counters the sourness of limes.
I hope it will quench your thirst like it does mine!
A pitcher of limeade:
Servings: 6-8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
6 limes (1/2 cup of lime juice)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of hot boiled water
5 cups of ice water
5 cups of ice
pinch of salt (optional)
mint leaves (for garnish)
Directions:
1) To make the simple syrup, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. On medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, making sure to continually stir. When the sugar is completely dissolved remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
2) Squeeze the 6 limes until you get half a cup of lime juice.
3) Fill a pitcher with 4 cups of ice water. Pour in the lime juice and the sugar syrup and stir well. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Depending on your taste, you can add in the additional cup of water (use half a cup first, then the other half until you reach your desired taste). I tend to like my limeade more sweet and tart, so I use less water. Also, the addition of ice will eventually dilute the limeade.
4) Add the ice, stir, garnish with mint leaves, and enjoy.
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