Japanese rose cheong syrup
Foraged treasures at a Norwegian campsite🏕️: Japanese rose (rosa rugosa) + spruce tips!
I made a Japanese rose cheong syrup—a Korean-style preserve made with lots of sugar and minimal effort.
I crushed some sugar cubes and layered them in a small jar with rose petals and a few spruce tips. Gave it a good shake, and now all I have to do is wait for the sugar to slowly melt—cheong-style—and absorb all those floral, resinous flavors. The perfect souvenir to take home!
makes about 300 ml (11/4 cup)
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100 g Japanese rose (rosa rugosa) petals (about3-4 cups loosely packed)
- 5-6 spruce tips
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125 g sugar (about 1 cup, white or light cane sugar)
You will also need: a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid
1 If needed, gently pat the petals and spruce tips dry.
2 Start with a layer of sugar in the jar, then add a handful of rose petals and one or two spruce tips. Repeat the layers until everything is used up, finishing with a layer of sugar on top. Give it a good shake.
3 Seal the jar and store it in a cool, dark place (such as a pantry).
4 After 2–4 weeks, syrup will begin to form. Once all the sugar has dissolved, you can strain out the petals and tips. Alternatively, you can leave them in for up to 3 months for a stronger flavor—just be sure to remove the spruce tips at some point, or their resinous taste might overpower the syrup. Transfer the finished syrup to a clean bottle or jar.
5 You can use the syrup right away, but after aging 6–12 months in the fridge or cellar, the flavor becomes much deeper and smoother.
Want to make more cheong? Try this recipe:Â Unripe plum cheong
