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Calamondin Orange So Bitter!

 
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Bought a calamondin last Spring just because it was there, and it looked like it would be fun and produce tasty fruits (like my limequat and Meyer lemon). What we got for a harvest was so bitter it was just miserable to sample. What am I missing with these? Fans of this fruit, fill me in!
 
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This fruit is from the Phillippines, and it is famously sour.  Called Kalamansy there, they usually add sugar.
John S
PDX OR
 
Rachel Lindsay
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Thank you! And we had been expecting something like a mandarin! Hahahaha! ...Quite the opposite.

The lesson here for me, is, of course, "research before you buy"!
 
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Citruses have a lot of interesting qualities.

The fruit/juice might not be sweet, but is the rind aromatic? Sometimes you can cut in half, turn so the outer peel faces your food and squeeze in a backwards arc and the oils spray off into your food giving you an amazingly delicate but interesting flavor. Citrons are often used like this I think.

What happens when you dehydrate it? Can you candy it?

Can you zest it? How is the white part of the rind?

Some citrus have surprisingly sweet parts and bitter other parts. For example the local fruit called a buntan has extremely bitter membranes, but if you peel those and reveal the inner fruit sections without membrane they are very interesting in flavor.

Maybe it will be a good potpourri component?
 
pollinator
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You could use them in anything that uses lemon or lime, and if you look online there are a ton of calamondin marmalade recipes.
 
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I asked Mr. Google who said

a cross between lemon, tangerine, and passionfruit. It is super tart with a slight floral finish.



This article suggests ways to use them, such as juicing and making marmalade:

They can be juiced, and their tart, aromatic juice is used to make a refreshing Philippine lemonade. The fresh juice can be mixed with other juices or even frozen to make ice cubes which are then added to iced tea, lemonade, or other beverages.



https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-are-calamansi-limes-5210037

If you find a good use for them, please let us know.
 
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I asked a citrus guy why the recommend them.  He said it's because they grow really well and make pretty fruit.  He also said they're really a kumquat, maybe they changed the name for marketing purposes?  Or I was misled...
 
Anne Miller
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Mike, that citrus guy knew what he was talking about:

Calamansi limes are a citrus fruit of the species Citrus x microcarpa, which are believed to be a hybrid of kumquats (Citrus japonica) and mandarin oranges (Citrus reticulata). They are sometimes also known as Philippine limes, Philippine lemons, or calamondin; the words calamansi and calamondin are sometimes spelled kalamansi and kalamondin, respectively. They're native to the Philippines as well as parts of Indonesia and China.



From the Spruce Eats link above.
 
pollinator
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Kalamansi are used to dress a lot of dishes in the Philippines. Squeeze a couple into a little soy sauce for a perfect dip for fish, on top a rice noodle dish to give it a little tang, or into a rum and coke for greater joy. They go well with a lot of dishes and are basically used in everything in the Philippines. But they're used when they're still green, the rind is never eaten, and the seeds are always strained out. In my experience, they're unique and amazing --- don't expect kumquat.
 
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