Karjalanpaisti (Karelian Stew)

My Story

I grew up drinking Sima at other Finnish homes, but never made it myself until my late 20s. That’s when it became my own tradition. At first I made the original recipe for May Day, but I quickly became a kitchen rebel: swapping in lime, adding kumquats if I could find them, and playing with every citrus I could get my hands on. Now Sima is part of my Finnish-Australian identity—classic, but also experimental, fizzy, and bright, just like the life I’ve built.

Recipe

Ingredients

Ingredients (makes ~2 L):

2 L water
200 g sugar (mix of white and brown or honey)
2 lemons (zest and juice)
¼ tsp dry yeast
20 raisins
Optional: limes, kumquats, or other citrus

Method

Cooking Instructions

Boil ~500 ml water with sugar to dissolve. Add citrus zest, slices, and juice. Cool slightly.
Add remaining cool water, then yeast.
Pour into bottles.
Drop in a few raisins each.
Release the air in the bottles every day.
Leave at room temp 1–2 days. When raisins rise, it’s ready. Chill before serving.

Sima in a glass bottle with a few raisins floating on top, surrounded by fresh lemons and limes. The drink is lightly fizzy, with bubbles rising to the surface, and the scene is set in a bright kitchen with natural light.