Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Buddha's Hand Uses


DanM

Recommended Posts

I found Buddha's hand at Central Market in Plano, TX while visiting my in-laws. I am not familiar with this citrus or what dishes are traditional with it. Does anyone have suggestions on uses?

Thanks!

"Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea." --Pythagoras.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there's really nothing much in it, the zest is what's good. Too cumbersome for my taste though, I consider them pretty center pieces :laugh:

But I'd love to have a tree in the garden, have to see if they grow here (NorCal), the fruits sure look cool. But not worth the price IMO.

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a vodka made with it that makes a great martini - with pomegranate juice (unsweetened), lime and simple syrup. A great holiday cocktail. There is a restaurant in Oakland called Luca's Tap Room that has them as the house cocktail. Really delicious if you like a fruiter cocktail - but it is not as sweet as a lemon drop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The candied peel is an excellent, and more flavorful, substitution for citron in baked goods and spumoni. I envy you.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

There is a tree down the road loaded with fruit. I look forward to seeing suggestions as I am thinking of trading for some of my grapefruit. I envision the peel grated into vegetable preparations. I use lemon peel in my Linzer bars; this might be a different and interesting note.

BH tree.JPG

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

I'm bumping this up to see if anyone followed through on last year's ambitions, or if there are more suggestions. The produce manager at the local Whole Foods gifted us with a Buddha's Hand the other day. So far, we've used the zest in crab cakes, but there's lots of fingers yet to be harvested. Any ideas?

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm bumping this up to see if anyone followed through on last year's ambitions, or if there are more suggestions. The produce manager at the local Whole Foods gifted us with a Buddha's Hand the other day. So far, we've used the zest in crab cakes, but there's lots of fingers yet to be harvested. Any ideas?

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have just reminded me that I can actually GET a Buddha's Hand with any luck this year. I had completely forgotten about them and couldn't get one the last time we were in the Southwest because it was too late in the winter.

No idea of what I am going to do with one...but I'll get one from Albuquerque if I can.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once made some candied Buddha's Hand citron. Once. The lovely shape is not the easiest nor the most reasonable thing you can cut up. Offhand, I can't think of other uses for this fruit. It is all peel. Using it only for zest, when other cheaper citrus will do, seems like a waste. I've advised people to candy this fruit, or use it as a centerpiece--otherwise, forget it.

About candied Buddha's Hand citron on Lebovitz's blog:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/02/candied-citron-recipe/

If you're ambitious, you can try to candy the entire fruit for a spectacular presentation. Other whole fruit, even whole pumpkins, are candied by this method in Southern France. The fruit is boiled in a simple syrup, laid out to dry at room temp, boiled in simple syrup again. The process continues until the entire fruit is candied.

About fruit confit:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/02/making-glazed-candied-fruit-citron-recipe/

http://www.europeupclose.com/article/fruit-confit-at-confiserie-florian-near-nice-france/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know you all know what a Buddha's Hand looks like. Heck, Heidhi even has a tree in her neighborhood, but here is another photo. This Buddha's Hand is a particular one because it is MINE! MINE! I bought it a couple of days ago in Albuquerque at a Whole Foods and I was just thrilled to pieces to finally own one. What I will do with it I have no idea yet, but I do have this photo record of MY very own Buddha's Hand for posterity.

And yes, it smells lovely and I smell it each time I pass it in our rental condo kitchen.

Buddha\

Edited by Darienne (log)

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love your enthusiasm!

What about Buddha's hand shortbread cookies? Might be a not too sweet way to feature the ?unique? odor and flavor of the peel?

I think they look great, but havent been awed enough to buy one (to plant one, maybe).

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love your enthusiasm!

What about Buddha's hand shortbread cookies? Might be a not too sweet way to feature the ?unique? odor and flavor of the peel?

I think they look great, but havent been awed enough to buy one (to plant one, maybe).

At $10 a pop, I wouldn't be buying them too often, you can be sure. But then they never make their way up to the far frozen north into our nearby provincial type city (Don't tell anyone I said the part about provincial :raz: )

As for BH short-breads...I take it you mean just add some BH zest? I have downloaded three different recipes from the web to look at more carefully today: DL, Chef Eddy...both for candying and Dessert First (Pastry Girl) for BH Ginger Cake. Shall report back anon.

Thanks for the idea. I can probably do all four in the end.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Darienne,

Try separating out the leathery pieces and steam them for 15-20 minutes then check and steam some more if necessary.

I've had good luck steaming some really tough grapefruit peel that went a bit too far.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Darienne,

Try separating out the leathery pieces and steam them for 15-20 minutes then check and steam some more if necessary.

I've had good luck steaming some really tough grapefruit peel that went a bit too far.

Great idea. Fortunately I have been so swamped with other things that I didn't have a chance to separate the pieces and throw the leathery bits out yet. The steaming will wait a while before being tried. In the meantime, they were rolled in sugar and put into an air-tight container.

And oh my! the smell and taste of the syrup is just fantastic!

Thanks again, Andie :wub:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Made some cookies, Chocolate-dipped orange peel cookies from Use Real Butter, subbing the candied Buddha's Hand bits for the orange peel. Absolutely delicious. Except for the candied citron pieces.

Cut every piece one by one into little bits to make sure each was soft enough, but the baking seems to have undone all my hard work and there were just too many hard bits in them. We aer eating around the bits.

Decorated them with chocolate ganache swirls anyway and the photos of the cookies are lost somewhere in my picture albums which I can't seen to control anymore. Arrghh. (I don't have a love/hate relationship with my computer...it's more like a despair/madness relationship.

I'll make these cookies again, but with candied lemon peel I think. Bought my one Buddha's Hand and that will be that. I still have all the wonderful syrup.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Delighted to say that I finally found the soft pieces of candied Buddha's Hand which I thought were lost. And made another batch of the Orange Peel Cookies and they are tremendous.

Now what to do with all that wonderful syrup?

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I candied it a la Liebovitz and let it go just a little further to get a really thick syrup. It is a beautiful accompaniment to cheeses and also with ham, pork and chicken.

Don't try to win over the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer."

Scott Stratten

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

While looking for things to do with the Buddha's Hand I got in my CSA this week, I came across this video from a local San Diego chef that I found inspiring.

 

 

More interesting recipes at this link.

Edited by FrogPrincesse (log)
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...