Imagine my surprise when I got to my desk in Cebu and there was this package that contained one spectacular buddha’s finger from reader Mimi, of Singapore! I don’t normally encourage that kindhearted readers send me anything, but Mimi has doggedly persisted and figured out a way how to send me stuff and this is the second wonderful surprise package I have received, and along with the unusual citrus fruit, a packet of red dried chilies and some belacan. Maraming Salamat.
Buddha’s Fingers are a citrus fruit, but yield little or no juice. You can candy the rind. Read more about them here. :)
24 Responses
I have never seen this before. Very interesting! Will you be so kind as to slice it and show us how it looks and tell us how it tastes?
So what does one do with Buddha’s Finger MM?
What is a buddha finger? I have never seen this before.
OK, I googled it and found this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha's_hand. Very interesting. I have not seen this fruit/plant before.
have never seen this before, but have seen it in pictures, usually as part of a flower/vegetable arrangement. is it edible or just decorative?
Although I often see this at a fruit shop here in Singapore, I actually never tried it :)
I thought it’s a variety of chili from the picture.
Millet…it is edible but not in the sense like lemons…one benefits from the rind for there is hardly any juice. You can make candied Buddha’s fingers just like making candied orange rind and dip half in chocolate. You can also infuse it in simple syrup to make the syrup for lemonade or iced tea..or better yet for SOSYAL purposes…infuse it in liquor and give away as presents…I wonder….if you can make vanilla extract-vanilla beans steeped for months in rum or vodka, maybe steeped buddha’s fingers (which contains very fragrant essential oils) in the same alcohol would work for lemon extract? But I don’t think it will turn yellow!
First time I saw it in Singapore, I freakishly thought it as Predator-like. :)
MM: I am very happy you like the assortment. It’s just to say ‘thank you’ for your blog. And you mentioned before that you’ve not actually seen a Buddha’s hand citron, so now you have :)
Oh wow….and it has spikes like bird toes! This is what I like about this blog….introducing me to new food finds/produce! Thanks MM! and thanks Mimi!
I can’t wait to see what you do with this MM!
One of the most curious looking fruits I have ever seen (specially if I exclude my collection of images of suggestively malformed vegetables and root-crops). Their varietal name is sarcodactyl which means flesh-fingered. In Mandarin they are called fósh?u, Budha’s hand. Incidentally, chayote is also called fósh?u although modified with gu? (their term for melon) at the end.
footloose, “suggestively malformed” is such a footloose comment, hahaha!
bettyq, citron-infused vodka? candied citron dipped in chocolate? now you’re making me want to have a whole tree in my garden!
thanks for sharing this, MM … my first time to see such. candied? we’re all waiting to see how it works out …
Dunno why but the look of this fruit freaked me out!!!
Off topic: Bettyq, thank you very much for your wonderful advice. My lobster oil was a huge success! I
that kind of looks creepy.
I really envy those who are in the Tropics and even in California. I think it is time I relocated to California!!!….all these fruits that I would like to get my hands on!
MP…you are welcome! You know what? A little drizzle over your steaming bowl of cioppino after splashing it with a little Pernod…haaaaay….our supper today if I can get the ingredients! toasted baguette slices after drizzled with olive oil and garlic…on bottom of the bowl, top it with cioppino, drizzled with the lobster oil and a bit of gremolata…
Betty Q and MP, what is lobster oil? Splashing Pernod on cioppino will make it taste like bouillabaisse, a close relative.
Just dragged home last night 2 suitcases full of citrus from CA, a hundred lbs. total, including a dozen buddha’s hand amongst the meyer lemons, bergamot, moro blood oranges, calamansi, and seville oranges, from 5 CCOP farmers markets in the SF area.
You can infuse vodka or gin with the grated buddha’s peel, let rest for two weeks, strain and add 50% simple syrup. Good for mixed drinks or to brush over pound cake.
Some of them I have cut into cubes for candied citron, to use in panettone, shortbread, and fruitcake. They have a wonderful scent.
The marmalades this year will be even more interesting, today’s lot included a rhubarb and blood orange batch that was very good. I’ll have them all bottled up by week’s end.
I could live in CA! At least in the winter.
Footloose…lobster oil is an infused oil made with the carcasses or shells of lobsters roasted with aromatic vegetables and touch of tomato paste…just like when you making bisque and them simmered slowly with a huge amount of canola oil and then filtered just to get the flavoured oil. Howver, you can use prawn or crab shells in place of lobsters. When I have a lot of it, I drizzle it over PAncit Malabon and it brings my Pancit Malabon to another level . I put it in a cruet and have the guests drizzle their Pancit Malabon with it! Downside….once the guests taste it with the Pancit, they WILL ASK YOU IF THEY CAN TAKE SOME OF THE OIL HOME!!!!!!!!!
I see, said the blind man, just like the rouille that they dollop on bouillabaisse but your mention of Pancit Malabon brings me back to their basic sauce for it, juice of crushed small crustaceans and garlic simmered in pork fat and coloured with achiote. Deadly delicious. I can see myself dropping everything I’m doing now to go to Chinatown to get me my assortment of tiny crustaceans. Thanks.
Anytime, my dear friend!!!!!!!!!
When MM came over here in the fall, CWID, gifted him with a bottle of store bought Lobster oil. A bottle the size of maybe a small to medium size olive oil costs 3x the cost of olive oil.
Fascinating exchange!
Hi betty q!
Off-topic (though not so much perhaps, since this MM post is about sidewalk stuff, and since buddha’s fingers look like yellow elongated versions of the durian’s pungent and delicious pods) , I walked around Soler and Divisoria last Friday and found sidewalk vendors selling durian at P 60 per kilo! P 60 per kilo! Bought one (with a lot of fleshy seeds) and ate it as I walked around, for my lunch.