hot coke with lemon and ginger ... yum
By Bernie Baskin,
Jan 19, 2012,
Unsurprisingly, in the course of researching and writing these little square books, I’ve come across some bizarre (and absolutely wonderful) things. The latest greatest winner of the What-did-you-say-is-in-that Award has to be hot Coke with lemon and ginger served at Wah Fung Roast Meat (112-114 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong).
When I see a menu item like this, I usually take a stroll around the old internet in some attempt to figure out whether I’ve been hiding under a rock my whole life. Most of the time I’m hugely relieved. Although in the case of hot Coke with lemon and ginger, apparently I’m a hermit.
According to L’Google, boiled ginger soup and brown sugar was once served to those suffering from a stuffy nose, or achy body. Over time, Coke replaced brown sugar, and ginger soup became chopped ginger. The elixir worked because ginger generally helps alleviate cold symptoms, the phosphoric acid in a flat Coke is apparently good for digestion, while the caffeine wakes up the senses, and lemon helps infuse the body with Vitamin C. Plus it’s downright delicious, so who wouldn’t want to drink this when they felt crabby?
I have to throw in here, that in addition to learning about the healing benefits of Coke, I also learned on Google that “you can place a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and the steak will be gone in two days”. No other clarification was given, so I’m not sure if the steak is actually dissolved by the phosphoric acid in the Coke or whether Coke enlivens the flavor of the meat so much so that it is downright impossible not to eat it within two days. I’m hoping it’s the latter.
So … how to make hot Coke with lemon and ginger you ask? Lightly boil a can of Coke (no Diet Coke you health nut) with 3/4 of an inch of sliced ginger (slice it up, toss it in). Don’t boil it too long or too hot or you might as well be making ginger candy. You just want to kill the fizz and infuse it with ginger. Place three slices of lemon in your favorite Hello Kitty mug, pour hot, flat gingery Coke over the lemon and enjoy with fuzzy slippers and A-Team reruns. Personally, I might also toss in a couple of cloves since I’m fond of a good hot toddy every now and then.
