Buddha's Hand
Nov. 20th, 2017 04:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis post is about Buddha's hand, a fabulous citrus fruit. There's a video that talks about what it is and how to use it. What really grabbed me is the woman's exceptional skill at describing things across all the senses. My vision-impaired friends, you want to listen to this one.
I've never tried this fruit myself, but Harvest Market had some and I smelled it. The fragrance is amazing -- lemony, but much brighter and sweeter, just celestial. One of these days I'll buy one and zest it onto chicken or something.
I've never tried this fruit myself, but Harvest Market had some and I smelled it. The fragrance is amazing -- lemony, but much brighter and sweeter, just celestial. One of these days I'll buy one and zest it onto chicken or something.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-20 11:13 am (UTC)I like the idea of using the zest to flavor a chicken dish. I think I might also soak a few fingers of Buddha's Hand in Everclear, to see what I can do with a citron extract. (Oooh... Buddha's-Hand-flavored whipped cream! On a cake with bits of candied citron in it!)
Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-20 11:45 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 11:38 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 06:36 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 07:01 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-22 05:23 am (UTC)blushes You're very welcome. :)
Tell me if you ever discuss longans. I know them as 'guinep' as they're called in Jamaica.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-22 05:32 am (UTC)If you check my Food tag, though, you should see some of the earlier posts I've done when trying exotic fruits or just new varieties of old favorites.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-22 11:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-21 06:36 pm (UTC)ETA: So it works wherever lemon zest works, but one thing I love about it is that because it's not bitter it works some other ways too. I've shredded it and tossed a couple tablespoons into a fruit salad, for instance.
Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-21 06:53 pm (UTC)I'd have to test that myself to see if it really works for me; my sense of taste is far more acute than average. But perhaps it'll be minor enough bitterness that I don't mind. White peaches have a bitter note to me, and that's part of their appeal.
>> ETA: So it works wherever lemon zest works, but one thing I love about it is that because it's not bitter it works some other ways too. I've shredded it and tossed a couple tablespoons into a fruit salad, for instance. <<
Ooo ... now that is interesting. Thanks everso for sharing!
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-22 11:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-20 05:12 pm (UTC)We had a gaming night with a friend a couple of weeks later and brought such a salad and described it to her as having a snot dressing. Her reaction was wonderful. She loved the salad.
I have occasionally seen Buddha's Hand here, I'll have to grab one the next time I see it and do something with it.
Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-20 07:10 pm (UTC)LOL yes, passionfruit is one of the ingredients in the "slime salad" that Shiv and company start making at prison. Still in my notes and not a poem, but the idea is there.
>>I have occasionally seen Buddha's Hand here, I'll have to grab one the next time I see it and do something with it.<<
It should work in any lemon recipe that relies on zest/rind.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-20 07:34 pm (UTC)There's a franchise that in Scottsdale is called Outrageous Olive Oils, it goes by different names elsewhere. I have probably close to two dozen different flavors of olive oils and balsamic vinagers. When I make carrot salad, I use one or two different olive oils and three different balsamics! We did a similar 'blend until we like the taste' making the snot salad. Come to think of it, the only thing that I can think of off-hand that I need zest for is madelines. That gives me an excuse to make more! Love 'em, haven't made them in quite a while.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-20 07:51 pm (UTC)Wow! Our favorite international store stocks dozens. I discovered that while I can tell the difference between $3 olive oil and $13 olive oil, I can't tell the difference between $13 and $30. So I buy the midgrade stuff for flavor, and the cheap when I want flavorless cooking oil. *laugh* But they did hook me with the truffle-infused oil. That stuff is awesome.
>>Come to think of it, the only thing that I can think of off-hand that I need zest for is madelines. That gives me an excuse to make more! Love 'em, haven't made them in quite a while.<<
It should be perfect for that. Alternatively, the recipe in the video makes Buddha syrup as a byproduct of candying the fruit. That could be turned into a cookie glaze, and madelines are sometimes served with a light glaze.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-20 07:58 pm (UTC)This franchise allows you to sample ANY flavor, and I have no idea how many different ones that they have! They sell three different bottle sizes, and do mail order. I found out they were a franchise when I was visiting a friend in Colorado and we went to Pearl Street Mall in Boulder and they had the same store, different name. I don't think we need to visit them this trip, but I dropped, IIRC, $80ish the last time that I was there! I do about the same when it comes to $3/$13/$30. My more expensive OOs have specific flavors for specific applications. I remember listening to a Splendid Table podcast where a foodie reporter went to become trained to grade EVOs and right off the bat was given a sampling of various EVOs to sample and grade, and the one she picked as best was actually rancid! Now rancid, that I can detect! Just threw out a bottle of rancid sesame oil that had gotten shuffled behind some stuff out of sight, fortunately found another that was not. I tend to prefer my madelines either dipped in chocolate or plain. I'm kind of simple when it comes to some pastries, and the flavor of the cake itself is so light and delicate that I just don't think I could see applying a glaze - for my taste. Putting in orange or lemon zest, perhaps even lime zest, that's fine. But glaze enters a different realm of add-ons that exceeds what I want to do with the madelines that I make.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-20 08:19 pm (UTC)Ours puts out free samples on Saturdays, which is how I found the truffle oil. They're selling it out of big metal cans, you tap off what you want into a bottle. We got half of a rather large bottle for a very reasonable price.
>>Putting in orange or lemon zest, perhaps even lime zest, that's fine. But glaze enters a different realm of add-ons that exceeds what I want to do with the madelines that I make.<<
Do what works for you. Buddha zest will work -- its scent is intense, but so light and bright as to be rarefied.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-20 09:16 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-20 09:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-21 03:59 pm (UTC)... I wonder if it pickles well, like kumquats do. (Surprise bonus: kumquat syrup is a byproduct.)
Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 06:36 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 06:40 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 07:01 pm (UTC)http://nourishedkitchen.com/morrocan-preserved-lemons/
Traditional version with pressing:
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-make-moroccan-preserved-lemons-2394973
Modern quick version:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/preserved-meyer-lemons-102747
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-21 11:57 pm (UTC)The other is a quick vinegar pickle - first boil the fruit like the video has for the first stage of candying, just to get it tender. (Save that water. Add sugar, reboil, syrup has occurred.)
Then boil vinegar, pepper, and whatever spices you like - for citrus, I like mulling spices - and hot pack the lot. After a week, they're divine.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2017-11-22 12:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-21 06:38 pm (UTC)Thanks!
Date: 2017-11-21 06:41 pm (UTC)