Kumquats - Any ideas?

[Anna N]

I found some kumquats today and though I knew they were a type of citrus fruit, I have never eaten one before. My mind said citrus + fish ought to make a good pair. So now I have kumquats and fish but when I look for ideas as to how to pair these, there are very few recipes to be found. I have eaten one kumquat and found it to be intriguing but wonder if it lacks the necessary acidity to pair well with fish. Anyone care to comment?

Since the fish is for dinner tonight, I expect I will go another route but would still be interested for the future.

[russ parsons]

they are a major pain in the neck. i actually had a tree in my back yard but pulled it out. the fruit is fine, but certainly not my favorite. but they are about 1/2 seed by weight, meaning that anything you do with them, you spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning.

[Kent Wang]

I eat them straight. No peeling. I also like the limequat, though it's a bit too sour.

[Pan]

My mother used to make chicken with soy sauce and kumquats. I can't remember the rest of the ingredients, but I liked it when I was a kid. Whether I'd still like it now, I don't know.

[zilla369]

We used to get them in fruit gift baskets at Christmas and thought they were so exotic.

If I had some on hand, I'd probably make some savory dish with orange zest in the sauce, and garnish it with razor-thin cross-section slices of whole kumquat (including peel border).

edited for clarity

[Gifted Gourmet]

Quite by chance and through another link and then another, I found this:

Kumquatgrowers.com

which has a couple of interesting recipes and a ton of facts on the fruit.

Kumquat Refrigerator Pie recipe as well as Tropical Kumquat Cake .. other than that I found a lot of similar recipes for candied kumquats ...

two more unusual recipes: Kumquat Pastry Tart with Ginger Cream and Microwave Kumquat Jam

And then there is this: Moroccan Chicken with Kumquats and Prunes from Epicurious.com

BTW, there are even things called orangequats, lemonquats, and limequats...

[avocado]

There's a couple-page spread on kumquats in this month's Bon Appetit.

[highchef]

if you halve them you can squeeze the seeds out pretty quick. The peel is the best part of the fruit, so if you use 'orange' zest, just zest a few comquats.

I use them for cranberry relish. cook cranberries with a little sweet wine and sugar until they break, then add halved (seeded) cumquats and cook just a few minutes more to help soften the rind. then pulse in a cuisinart a few times. I add a little salt, and fresh grated ginger for a bite. It's fresh and pretty and nice, and if you want, it makes beautiful gifts if you bother putting it up in jars (requires the same technique as preserves...ie, hot jars and a steam bath.)

[Anna N]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have to agree with Russ that they would be a pain to prep in any quantity. So, we had the fish without kumquats and I had the kumquats without the fish! I ate them like candy and would buy them again to eat that way. I certainly didn't buy sufficient to make any sort of preserves but might consider the cranberry-kumquat idea another time. Presently, I make a cranberry and dried apricot preserve with sherry so kumquats would make an interesting variation.

[Pan]

They're not a pain to prep if you just wash them and put them in your dish whole. Of course, for fancy dining, you don't want your guests to have to spit out a bunch of seeds, but en famille, no problem.

[JLam]

I was just reading about kumquats, and it occured to me that I've never cooked with them. I don't even know what they taste like. I read that they're sour, and I looove sour fruits. I can't believe I've been depriving myself of them.

So, I plan on procuring some of these little guys soon, but it the meantime I wanted to know if anybody here has any favorite recipes that utilize them. What do they taste like? What do you do with them?

[joiei]

When I worked at Windsor Court hotel, we had a dessert with a kumquat sauce. I will have to dig that recipe out of the files. I love kumquats.

[cookman]

Anybody know of a source for organic kumquats? I want to candy them, and would prefer to use fruit without any pesticide residues.

[Malawry]

I like to serve kumquats on cheese platters. Nice change from the cliched sliced apples/grapes/pears you normally see on those things. Plus they're colorful.

[JLam]

Anybody know of a source for organic kumquats? I want to candy them, and would prefer to use fruit without any pesticide residues.

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Can't you just give them a good washing?

[prasantrin]

At a kaiseki place, I recently had a kumquat shell (kumquat with the top cut off and the insides scooped out) filled with ikura, meant to be eaten in just one bite. It was delightful!

[Aphra]

The best marmalade I've eaten is kumquat marmalade. I don't make it myself, but I've got a couple of friends who keep me supplied, and come winter when citrus are in season again, I intend to do it myself just to make sure there's no interruption in supply. It's tart and orangey and altogether wonderful.

It's excellent on toast, and then I made little shortbread tarts and filled them with the marmalade. Sweet, buttery tart pastry and sharp, citrusy marmalade filling, just perfect.

[Sararwelch]

I just received about 5 lbs of kumquats. There are only so many I can eat raw, any ideas on what to do with them?

[Eden]

we made kumquat sorbet with candied kumquats last year - totally killer!

[jackal10]

Candied, or pickled, or marmelade/jam

[Sararwelch]

we made kumquat sorbet with candied kumquats last year - totally killer!

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That sounds great, do you have a recipe?

[lperry]

Poke tiny holes in them with needles, put them in a glass jar, pour in brandy to cover, wait a month or so, and enjoy!

-L

[JasonTrue]

I like them halved with caramelized figs (dry, soaked in some orange liqueur, or fresh), cooked, with some added white wine and a tiny bit of cornstarch, served with mascarpone. The mascarpone is particularly nice if mixed with candied ginger. I stole the concept from a Nadine Abensur book, and it's always a hit, even when I mess it up slightly. Hers is a little less soupy than mine (though the photos in her book were more liquidy than the original recipe would make possible).

Kumquat marmelade or syrup is nice, even to make a hot "tea."

They're also nice sliced finely and put on salads; if you're patient you can even extract enough juice for a vinaigrette.

[The Old Foodie]

If you cant handle them right now, for marmalade purposes it is fine to freeze them until you do have time. They are easier to slice up after they have been frozen and thawed too.

You can never have too much kumquat marmalade in your pantry.

[Ktepi]

Definitely candy them -- they candy wonderfully, and the syrup is great for cocktails (or ice cream, maybe). The fourteen day method here may take a long time, but it takes very little work, especially if you have a kitchen calendar to keep track of which day you're on.