These are a wonderful addition to your arsenal of secret ingredients. They are worth the wait until they are ready and will keep for a long time in the fridge. I use them in salads, to perk up pastas and soups, and of course, in Moroccan dishes. Recipes will follow in a month or two when your preserved lemons are ready to use.
Preserved Lemons
Makes 1 liter
Ingredients:
- 10 yellow lemons
- 10 Tbl Amed sea salt or other sea salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 cardamom pods
Directions:
Sterilize a liter jar or two half liter jars by pouring boiling water inside and over them. Invert to drain.
Wash the lemons with hot water to get any preservatives off of them. If you have access to organic lemons all the better.
Take each lemon and cut off the ends but without cutting into the flesh. Now stand a lemon on end and cut almost in half but not all the way. Turn and cut again so you have a quartered lemon still attached at the bottom. Do this with 8 of the lemons. Juice the remaining two lemons removing the pits.
Put 2 Tbl sea salt into the sterilized jar.
Take each lemon and pry it open catching any juice that is squeezed out. Put about 1 Tbl of sea salt into each lemon and press it closed. Put it in the jar. Do all the lemons in this manner, pressing down to get them all in the jar. This will make the juice come out. When they are all in the jar put in one cinnamon stick down the inside of the jar and three cardamom pods. Pour in the reserved lemon juice until everything is submerged. It is important that nothing is above the level of the liquid.
Put the lid on tightly and put in the fridge for 4 - 6 weeks. After four weeks test a lemon. It should be gelatinous inside and the skin soft. If it is still a bit underdone add another tablespoon of salt and return to the fridge for another two weeks.
Note: Most people discard the gelatinous insides of the lemons and only use the skins. I like the inside so I use it too. Chop a quarter of a lemon up into small pieces and add to salads, soups, pastas, rice - use your imagination. As you are eating you will get intense flavor bursts that tickle your pallet.
My refrigerator doesn’t have space for a tall liter jar so I use two shorter ones and put a cinnamon stick and 3 cardamom pods into each one.
It is better to use too much salt than too little.
Indonesia These are a wonderful addition to your arsenal of secret ingredients. They are worth the wait until they are ready and will keep for a long time in the fridge. I use them in salads, to perk up pastas and soups, and of course, in Moroccan dishes. Recipes will follow in a month or two when your preserved lemons are ready to use.
Indonesian Version:
Asinan Lemons
Untuk 1 liter
Bahan-bahan :
- 10 lemons yang kuning
- 10 Tbl garam laut dari Amed atau garam laut yang lain
- 1 batang kayu manis
- 3 cardamom pods
Cara Membuat :
Bersihkan botol (yang isi 1 liter atau 2 botol yang isi 1/2 liter air) dengan cara masukkan air direbus kedalam botol sampai airnya meluap. Kemudian biarkan sebentar dan keringkan. Jangan pakai handuk untuk keringkan.
Bersihkan lemon dengan air panas agar zat pengawetnya hilang. Lebih bagus pakai lemon yang organik.
Ambil 8 buah lemon, potong tiap lemon menjadi 4 bagian (juring) tapi jangan sampai lepas. Sisanya 2 buah lemon dijus dan buang bijinya.
Masukkan 2 Tbl garam dalam botol.
Ambil lemon yang sudah dibelah, tambahkan 1 Tbl garam untuk masing-masing lemon. Masukkan dalam botol satu persatu sampai semua lemon didalam botol. Di tekan supaya air lemon keluar sedikit di botol. Kemudian masukkan batang kayu manis dan biji cardamom. Tuangkan jus lemon sampai semua lemon terendam jus.
Tutup botol dengan rapat dan masukkan dalam kulkas selama 4-6 minggu. Setelah 4 minggu di kulkas, keluarkan dan lihat bagian dalam lemon harus sedikit mengental seperti agar-agar dan kulit lemon menjadi lembut. Kalau belum siap, tambahkan lagi 1 Tbl. garam dan kembalikan ke kulkas lagi, simpan selama 2 minggu.
Catatan :
Banyak orang membuang lemon bagian dalam yang kental dan hanya menggunakan kulitnya. Saya suka yang bagian dalam sehingga saya tidak buang bagian itu. Potong lemon menjadi potongan kecil dan tambahkan pada salad, sup, mie, dan nasi, gunakan imajinasi anda.
Ketika anda makan akan terasa meledak di lidah, seperti orang bilang "mak nyos rasanya" .
Gunakan botol yang pendek besar sehingga cukup muat didalam kulkas.
Lebih baik menggunakan lebih banyak garam dibandingkan dengan kurang.
All recipes are available on the Bali Advertiser website in both English and Indonesian versions. You can easily copy and paste and print. Paste as unformatted text.
