Grower
Seasons/Availability
Locally grown in San Diego, California, the peak season for Buddha's Hand Citron is October and November.
Current Facts
Buddha's Hand citron is used nearly exclusively for the manufacture of candied peel.
Description/Taste
Strange-looking Buddha's hand citron consists mostly of yellow-colored skin that looks like a huge rough seriously mutant lemon. The flesh inside is rather dry, can be either sweet or sour and offers a very subtle lemon flavor. It's no wonder how this odd shaped fruit acquired its very appropriate alias of "finger citron". The tentacles it produces have an uncanny resemblance to fingers. Offering a pleasantly unique and rather resinous fragrance, the Buddha's hand citron is used like grated lemon peel.
Applications
The peel from this very special citron is used the same as lemon peel and is excellent candied. Give its delicious flavor to candy, sorbets, sherbets and desserts. Experiment with this fun fruit to create great-tasting sauces, relishes, quick breads, puddings, custards, cookies, cakes and other baked goods. This eyebrow-raising fruit makes an excellent unusual decoration and garnish. To store, wrap in plastic; refrigerate in crisper drawer.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
In the Orient, this special fruit is considered to be a source of prosperity and is often placed near cash registers. In India, Kuvera, the god of wealth, is always represented holding a mongoose with jewels in one hand and a citron in the other. Indian cuisine pickles the raw flesh of the citron fruit, or cooks and preserves it in mustard seed oil. The Chinese especially love the Buddha's hand orange candied. A specialty of Bayonne, France, a sort of jellied citron paste called "pate de cedrat", is a favorite there. Even though the citron is not a juicy fruit, juice can be squeezed from it. This juice was used for making a refreshing soft beverage which is said to be the tasty and refreshing beginning of today's popular lemonade. A familiar sight in Italian cities in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were vendors with tanks on their backs selling this delicious citron juice they called "acquacedrata".
Geography/History
Native to the northeast of India and of the species Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus, food historians claim the citron was the first citrus fruit to reach the Mediterranean region. Because of incompatible climate conditions in Italy and Greece, citron production was impossible. A slight global warming in the Mediterranean during the centuries A.D. is credited for finally supporting the growth of citron in southern Europe. Making its journey to China during the fourth century A.D., the citron took on a whole different growth pattern and emerged into this unusual shape called var sarcodactyla. Not understood why or how, the fruit had separated into five lobes and developed tentacles. Growing on a small tree or shrub, the irregular branches produce light green oblong four to six inch leaves and many thorns. Purplish or white flowers appear in clusters. Revered as a symbol of happiness and because of its appearance, it was called "Buddha's hand". Calling the citron "bushukan", it was later embraced by Japan where it became very popular. At first used mainly for medical purposes or as a religious symbol, the citron was not considered to be edible. Eventually the peel was cut into strips for culinary use. When sugar was introduced into the Arab world and later to Asia, candied citron peel became a favorite confection. In the United States, Buddha's hand is locally grown along the coast of southern California as well as in inland valleys.
Featured Recipes
Recipes that include Buddhas Hand. One
is easiest, three is harder.
