Candied Cabaluyan Lemon Peel

I am always intrigued by new and unusual produce…

So these “cabaluyan” lemons piqued my interest… and with little on the internet about them, I was inclined to guess that they were a result of randy lemons in the wild chasing DNA amongst pomelo, lemon, dayap and other citrus cousins. Even the vendor wasn’t quite sure what they were and what to do with them.

As suspected, they held little juice or appealing pulp, and they possessed the unusually thick rind reminiscent of a citron that I have written about several times in the past. I decided the best possible use might be to try and candy the rind and see if they turned out edible…

Cut into 2-3 inch sticks with a bit of the white pith included.

If you are a chef or pastry person, you would take great pains to get this all equally sized and probably longer then these in the photos.

Boil the rinds in water for approximately 10 minutes, then drain and repeat. I did this two times. Some folks would go to 3 times, but the results would suggest that twice was fine.

In a heavy enameled pot, add 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water and simmer the boiled rinds for some 2 hours or so, taking care not to caramelize the syrup with too much heat.

Dry the rinds on a cookie rack. The results? Very, very good. I hint of bitterness with the sweet of the sugar syrup. These will be perfect dipped in dark chocolate. And we put this little glass container out the same evening after a dinner at home with friends, and they managed to eat about 1/4th of it just nibbling along with their teas and coffees.

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12 Responses

  1. Yes the citrus genus is famous for miscegenation and we thank this promiscuity for the endless variety of aroma, colours and tastes they have engendered. What does it smell like? Can you at least take a stab at the probable progenitors?

    I don’t have the heart to discard unblemished citrus peel so I am also well practiced on this. The guys who gave us glassy pecans speed up the drawn out process considerably with the use of a vacuum sealer here httpss://goo.gl/ptzc5i .Btw, I was weakly wishing to get their newfangled sous vide circulator for Father’s Day, but must have given out hints that were too subtle.

  2. From the bumpy look of the rind, it may have kaffir lime parentage. Another good way to use up rind is to chop them up and tie into a small sachet/pouch with some muslin/cheese cloth. Dump this or several into a canister of tea leaves to perfume them. Same idea but julienned and into sugar to be sieved out with a simple colander 2 weeks later. Lastly, for those who, like me, bathe and shampoo with baking soda, do the same to get a nice lemony scent.

  3. Thrown off the scent by the green colour? Come to think of it, the citron peel in S&W’s fruit cake mix is greenish. Can’t tell whether they dyed it or not.

  4. Citron says Wiki is one of the four original citrus types that engendered the dizzying diversity of citrus fruits we enjoy today (the other three are pomelo, mandarin and papeda). This claim smacks of the one about North American native fruits, that there are only three, Concord grapes, cranberries and blueberries. To be factual, the claim has to be radically modified with “that are commercially grown.” The citrus claim though is accurate, it’s based on analysis of their chromosomes.

    Papeda caught my attention because this is the first time I came across it. Turns out our Cebuano biasong and samuraw belong under this subgenus.

  5. Yes, could definitely be citron, but almost certainly mixed with something else in its past, the fragrance was different from the other citron we have seen and cooked, and the rind closer to a pomelo than a citron. Footloose, that is so cool the link to biasong and piped, could it be that dayap, kaffir etc are all in that group of citrus fruit?

  6. Saw a big red ad in Megamall yesterday. It was the happy pig and it says ROASTING SOON. Wohoo!!! :D

  7. Oh, it’s a very unusual citrus. I have not seen this before. I love candied fruits from citrus, it’s tasty, useful and sparingly :) Great recipe!

  8. Sir is that a kahel.i dnt know the english name of it.it looks like it…i was amazed of your adventure..im starting to feel and have time on my passion of planting more fruit tress. Sir have you tried planting passion fruit?_is anyone here can help me to find where will i can buy them.

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