Sekanjabin (Persian Mint Vinegar Syrup) substitute

Substitutes for Sekanjabin (Persian Mint Vinegar Syrup) with ratios

1. 2Honey, vinegar and mint whisked together

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 4 tbsp honey + 1 tbsp white wine vinegar + 1 tsp dried mint for every ⅓ cup sekanjabin

   The no-cook version, and historically a legitimate one, since the earliest oxymels were honey-based.

   What changes

   Whisk until smooth and let it sit twenty minutes so the mint infuses.

   Best for

   making it in two minutes, the romaine dip, salad dressings, a quick summer drink

   Thinner than a cooked syrup and noticeably more floral, because honey has a strong flavor of its own where plain sugar has almost none. The drink tastes of honey with mint behind it rather than of clean sweet-sour mint. A mild honey such as acacia or clover keeps it closest; chestnut or buckwheat honey will take over completely.

2. 3Mint simple syrup plus vinegar

   Close match

   Use ⅓ cup mint syrup + 2 tsp vinegar for every ⅓ cup sekanjabin

   The fastest route if you already keep mint syrup for cocktails or iced tea.

   What changes

   Stir the vinegar straight in and taste.

   Best for

   bar setups, quick spritzers and cocktails, iced drinks, sweetening lemonade

   Close, with one trap: many commercial mint syrups are flavored with peppermint oil, which tastes bracing and faintly medicinal, like toothpaste, rather than the soft green spearmint used in Persian cooking. Check that the label says spearmint or that it is made from real leaves. If it is peppermint, cut the amount by a third and add a few fresh mint leaves to the glass.

3. 4Shrub or drinking vinegar

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount then add fresh mint

   Commercial shrubs are sweetened fruit vinegars made for exactly this purpose: diluting into cold water as a drink.

   What changes

   The sweet-to-sour balance is already right.

   Best for

   cold drinks, spritzers and highballs, when you want no cooking at all

   The structure is right and the drinking use is right; the flavor is not. Raspberry, apple or ginger shrubs taste distinctly fruity where sekanjabin is clean and herbal, so the result is refreshing but not recognizably Persian. Bruise several fresh mint leaves in the glass to pull it back towards mint. As a romaine dip it is usually too thin.

4. 5Agrodolce or a sweetened balsamic reduction

   Different taste

   Use ¼ cup for every ⅓ cup sekanjabin, then add mint

   Useful specifically for the romaine dip, where what you need is a thick sweet-sour syrup to coat a crisp leaf.

   What changes

   Best for

   dipping romaine or endive, drizzling over vegetables, salad dressings

   It has the right viscosity and the right sweet-sour tension, but it is dark, grapey and much heavier, so a pale green plate of romaine ends up looking and tasting like an Italian salad. Do not use it for the drink; diluted in water a balsamic reduction is murky and unpleasant. Stir in chopped mint to give it some connection to the original.

5. 6Mint lemonade with a splash of vinegar

   Taste and texture differ

   Use as a drink, to taste, plus 1 tsp vinegar for every glass

   The gentlest option, and a good drink in its own right for anyone who finds vinegar in a beverage strange.

   What changes

   Best for

   the drink only, children and vinegar-averse guests, hot weather

   Lemon acid is softer, rounder and fruitier than vinegar's sharp bite, so this stops being sekanjabin and becomes very good mint lemonade. The teaspoon of vinegar per glass restores some of the characteristic edge. It is far too thin to work as a dip for romaine, so use it for drinking only.