This came from my 'lemon' tree or what we thought was a lemon tree. It smelled lemony but did not have the normal lemon look. It's been growing for months on the tree. We finally decided to cut it down cos it looked really ugly.... they looked like gnarled hands.
And when we cut it opened, there wasn't any of the usual lemon insides either.....
3 comments:
oooo
that's one weird looking "alien fruit"
Sorry, it's not a 'real' lemon tree, but it is a VERY cool type of lemon citrus fruit.
From Asia, common in China, vietnam, it is called The Buddha Hand citron, or Finger citron.
One of a variety of edibles or cookables with a 'lemon like' flavor, such as lemon grass.
Unfortunately the inside of the Buddha Hand seems to be all Albedo, which is that thick white layer usually between a peel & the fruit (the really fat layer in 'navel oranges)
Use: Traditional Chinese Medicine (both the flower & fruit) in tangy sweet candies, marmalades, alcoholic beverages. You can place whole fruits into a container of vodka to infuse the flavor into the drink. The candies, etc., are all made using the rind. I read you can cut off the fingers and chop them up for use in the same way as you would use lemon zest in cooking, or cut off a finger-slice it lengthwise and use it when cooking fish.
I laughed when you said you cut it off because it was so ugly, because people display individual fruits. Here's a link.
http://www.buddhistedu.org/en/images/stories/Vanhoa/phat%20thu%205.jpg
The fruit can be placed amongst clothing smelling fresh AND it is a moth repellent!
To purchase a single fruit at a farmers market, you'll shell out $20 BUCKS!
HERE is a link to a site where a woman made some really nice looking candy off some peelings, she also talks about the fruit.
http://growitcookitcanit.com/2011/04/10/candied-buddhas-hand/
SO DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR GNARLY HAND FRUIT TREE!!! I think you can have a lot of fun with the fruits, most people never heard of it-so you can be a show off XD XD show people how you know all about cool exotic things they never heard of!
I would love to try different ways to use the scent in my home.
Slicing it open produces an intense scent, maybe cutting off individual fingers and splitting them open, or boiling them with some cloves & a cinnamon stick would make your house smell incredible !!!
Also, if it has already turned brown 'on the vine' it probably doesn't have much scent left. LMAO probably have to pick them when they are bright yellow.
ENJOY YOUR GOOD LUCK BUDDHA HAND FRUIT !!!!
Thank you for the long write up. Most informative. 8)
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