Knotweed and Apple Fruit Leather
Foraged knotweed cooked down with apples, spread thin, and dried into strips you can stuff in a hip belt pocket.
- calories
- 100
- weight
- 1.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 2 g
- serves
- 10, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Dessert
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Car camping
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Japanese knotweed stalks | 3 lb | young spring shoots, peeled |
|---|---|---|
| Baking apples | 3 lb | granny smith holds its tartness |
| Wild peppermint or spearmint leaves | 2 tbsp | optional, torn |
Method
- At home: peel the apples and the knotweed, then chop both into rough inch pieces.
- Cook them together in a deep pan over medium heat, stirring now and then, about 20 minutes, until the knotweed collapses and releases its liquid. If it looks soupy, keep reducing.
- Blend the hot mixture with the mint until it is a thick, smooth puree. A weak blender needs a splash of water to get there.
- Spread the puree about 1/8 inch thick on silicone mats or nonstick sheets.
- Dry in a dehydrator, or an oven on its lowest warm setting, until no wet spots remain but the sheet still bends without cracking.
- Peel it off, cut into strips, and roll them.
- On the trail: unroll and eat. No stove, no water.
Knotweed tastes like rhubarb and behaves like it too: sour, stringy, and full of water. Cooking it down with an equal weight of apples solves both problems at once. The apples supply the sugar and pectin that turn a watery puree into a sheet that holds together, and they hide the stringy texture that puts people off cooked knotweed.
This is all home-kitchen work, which is the point. What you carry is a dry strip with no water weight, no cooler, and no packaging to speak of. Get it fully dry before it goes in a bag — leather that is still tacky in the middle will mold weeks into a season, and you will not notice until you unroll it in the field.
Packing
Roll each strip in parchment so the pieces do not weld together, then stack them in one bag. Keeps unrefrigerated for months if it is fully dry — any tacky spot is where mold starts.
Variations
- Pears instead of apples for a rounder, sweeter sheet.
- Knotweed alone works, but add sugar or it dries brittle and shatters in your pack.
- Cut into long ribbons and tie them in knots so they pack flat.
https://foragerchef.com/knotweed-fruit-leather