I recently acquired a lot of meyer lemons from my neighbor's tree. I can only drink so much lemonade, eat so many lemon pies, and make so much marmalade! So I decided to make preserved lemons, and it was ridiculously easy. Now I have several jars of preserved lemons that I can use in Middle Eastern recipes.
What You Need
Ingredients
8 to 10 lemons (I used Meyer, but you can use any regular lemon)
Kosher salt
Equipment
1 quart-sized wide mouth jar with lid
Instructions
1. Sterilize the jar in boiling water for 15 minutes.
2. Scrub the lemons under running water with a stiff brush to remove any dirt and impurities.
3. Slice off the stem end and the tip end of each lemon. Starting at one end, cut the lemons in half lengthwise, but stop about 1/2 an inch before you reach the bottom. Repeat the cut perpendicularly so you have cut each lemon lengthwise in a "X" formation, but not all the way through; they should still be attached at the bottom, about 1/2 an inch.
4. Liberally sprinkle salt on the inside and outside of the lemons. Hold them open with your fingers and really get the salt inside them.
5. Add about 2 tablespoons of salt to the bottom of the sterilized jar. Place each lemon in the jar, pushing down on them and squeezing them to release the juices. Fill the jar but leave about 3/4 an inch of headroom. The lemons should be completely submerged in juice. If you can't get enough juice out of them, remove a lemon wedge or juice a lemon and add it to the jar. Add 2 more tablespoons of salt to the top. Seal the jar.
6. Let the jar sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Each day, turn it upside down and shake it to distribute the salt and liquids.
7. Put the jar in the refrigerator and turn it upside down every other day or so.
8. The lemons will be ready in three weeks, when the rinds have softened. When using, rinse your lemon thoroughly in water to remove excess salt. Discard seeds.
9. These will keep in the refrigerator for six months.
Additional Notes:
You can add spices such as cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, coriander seeds, cloves, peppercorns, dried chiles, and cardamom pods.
Related:
Ingredient Spotlight: Preserved Lemons
Recipe: Preserved Lemons with Cardamom
Seasonal Spotlight: Meyer Lemons
Recipe: Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic
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My mom just started to pickle kumquats for her twist on a Vietnamese drink-- chanh muoi, which is like a salty lemonade. The drink (a mashed preserved lemon, sugar, and carbonated water) is refreshing, and the lemon is something I like to fish for after finishing it. Good stuff!
We just made preserved meyer lemons from the garden with Peggy Markel who was featured on Featured on Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth television series. We used them to flavor Chicken Tagine with lemons, olives and coriander. Here is how she makes them http://eat-drink-garden.com/2010/03/preserved-lemons/
Preserved lemons aren't just for Middle Easter food. I use them in nearly everything. Tartar sauce, salad dressings, added to orzo salad, tossed with lightly wilted spinach, tossed with any roasted veg (broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc.) ... any time anything needs a little extra "zing" ... I'll chop some preserved lemon into it. It only takes a tiny bit to make a huge difference.
I've never had preserved lemons, but they sound delicious. One question: do you eat the rinds, then?
rinds only, at least in middle eastern cooking. Once they've been squished and preserved there isn't much left to the insides
Yes, you eat the rinds. I've made them for many years and they are a wonderful ingredient for which there is no substitute. I am curious how the Meyer lemons will work out. They have thin skins and that seems to me like a drawback since the skin is the part you eat.
Some tips:
Use what seems like an absurd amount of salt.
Don't rush things - these need time to transform.
When you use them, discard the inner part [juicy part] of the lemon [it to waaaay too salty] and soak the rinds briefly in water to remove some of the residual salt.
These keep forever in the fridge - if you use enough salt they are immune to bacteria.
The comment about using kumquats sounds interesting - like to give that a try.
I have also used Citron [Buddha's Hand] with good results. You have to mix it with lemons since the citron doesn't have much juice - the lemons will supply the juice.
@phoxx: and I imagine the preserved Buddha's hands make awesome table decorations for Halloween :)
A little off topic, but last week I had thinly sliced DEEP FRIED lemon slices as part of a fried calamari platter.
Ohmygawd, I LOVED them (rind and all... sweet, sour, salty!) but my "dining partner" did not.
Love making preserved lemons. For a two-person household, one quart-sized jar is enough for an entire year. At least for my two-person household.
I make chickpea salads for lunch quite often, and a bit of minced preserved lemon is a nice addition.
haha ! i was just looking up preserved lemons because i was planning to make them with the last bags of meyer lemons i scored! awesome post!
Phoxx-- I think plain old Eurekas are more successful than Meyers for this.
My mom makes these and they are delicious! Here's the recipe she uses- it's really tasty:
Ingredients:
. 6.6 lbs Lemon
. 750 Gms Salt (this truly is a boatload, but DO IT!)
. 375 Gms Green Chilies (I used jalapenos--I didn't have enough for the lemon pickle--I used 138 grams)
. 4 Cups Olive Oil
. 2 Tablespoons Turmeric
. 3 Tablespoons Red Chili Pepper
. 375 Gms Ginger (again, for the lemon I didn't have enough, so used 178 grams)
. 1/4 cup Fenugreek
. 1/4 cup Mustard Seeds
--added 1/4 cup nigella seeds
. 1 Tablespoon Asafetida
Method:
. Cut each lemon into eight pieces.
. Mix salt with lemons, keep in the sun for 15 days in the jar and shake it daily. (shake end over end to make sure salt dissolves)
. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. (not too hot, apparently if you make it too hot, it turns bitter)
. Allow it to cool and then add rest of the ingredients.
. Place it under sun for 15 days and then use.
i made some last spring that were delicious! my moroccan friend tifa used them in a tasty chicken and olive tagine... mmmmmm....
http://www.ellenfork.com/ellenfork/2009/05/stewin.html
danakay, that looks delish.
for future reference, though, it's 750g, not 750 Gms. metric nazi, here.
thanks polish chick ;)
Hey everybody! Make sure to check out the cookbook Arabesque for good uses of preserved lemons. Claudia Roden FTW!
Nobody beats Paula Wolfert for Moroccan food, and that's where I got my preserved lemon recipe. It's pretty similar to this one. I made several quarts and have been chopping them up for EVERYTHING. Salad dressings, soups, beans, citrus salads, etc, etc. I don't keep them in the fridge or soak them. Just adjust salt in the rest of the dish to account for the saltiness of these. I cured mine 30 days, shaking every day. I can't get enough!
I recently visited Hong Kong and ordered a 7-Up with "salty lemon" . . . it was delicious and completely cleared up the mild sore throat I had (I had unknowingly ordered a home remedy) . . . can't wait to try this out now that our lemon tree is heavy with fruit!
Oooh, one of our favorite dishes that I don't make nearly often enough is a variation on "Otsu" from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking. It's pasta with veggies and a yummy ginger lemon sauce. One of the reasons that I don't make it very often is that I have to go out of my way to get organic lemons. (I refuse to use non-organic citrus for zest. One of my few obsessive food quirks!) I bet it would be fantastic with preserved lemons and this way I can buy a whole bunch of organic lemons at once!
yummy spring dish:
asparagus quinoa w/ preserved lemon
http://exclusivegenerator.blogspot.com/2011/04/asparagus-quinoa-with-preserved-lemons.html