How Do You Eat A Kumquat? Tips For Eating The Healthy Dwarf Orange
Although kumquats are small, they taste delicious and are full of valuable ingredients. How kumquats are eaten is still a mystery to many. We at Gardender explain and show how the dwarf orange is eaten.
The kumquat ( Fortunella ) – sometimes also written cumquat – belongs to the large family of citrus fruits and thus joins orange ( Citrus × sinensis L. ), lime ( Citrus × aurantiifolia ), and Co. What is special about the dwarf orange: It is much smaller than its vitamin C-rich relatives. Accordingly, it is also consumed especially. In this article, we show you how best to eat kumquats, what ingredients they contain, and how you can use them in the kitchen.
How do you eat kumquats?
Kumquats are called dwarf oranges, but in contrast to oranges, the small fruits are eaten with their skin on. Eating the kumquat bowl has many advantages: It also takes in the ingredients that are contained in the bowl. In addition, the peel of kumquats tastes sweet and aromatic. You can also consume the kernels without hesitation. With kumquats, you eat the entire fruit.
Before eating, the fruits are washed thoroughly with lukewarm water and then dried. Connoisseurs now roll the fruit a few times between their fingers. This is supposed to soften the peel and release sweet flavors. This means that the kumquat tastes less bitter. Now the dwarf orange can actually already be eaten. If you are bothered by the kernels, you can cut the fruit once in the middle and remove it with a knife.
Instructions: Eat kumquat with the bowl on
- Wash and dry thoroughly
- Rub between fingers to release aromas from the peel
- If you want, you can remove the cores
- Enjoy the kumquat with the bowl
Kumquats taste similar to oranges, but with a special kick. Because the peel of the fruit tastes sweet, the inside of the fruit tastes sour. There are now several breeds of kumquats. For example, you can also enjoy dwarf limes, lime quads or small lemons, lemon quads. Like kumquats, you can eat lemonquads or limequads whole with their peel.
Ingredients of the kumquat: what makes the dwarf orange so healthy?
Small but mighty – this saying fully applies to the dwarf oranges. Kumquats are a real superfood because the small fruit is full of valuable ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
There is so much good in a kumquat:
- vitamin C
- Vitamin E.
- Vitamin B3
- sodium
- calcium
- potassium
- iron
- copper
- Beta carotene
It’s hard to believe, but there is twice as much vitamin C in a kumquat as in oranges. This strengthens the immune system and acts as an antioxidant to protect the cells from free radicals. Another reason why dwarf oranges are so healthy is their high calcium content. Calcium stimulates digestion and metabolism and is also good for bones and teeth.
Using kumquats in the kitchen
Kumquats are just as versatile in the kitchen as oranges. They can be found in hearty kumquat recipes, for example, like a fruity component in salads or sauces for poultry or lamb. The vitamin bombs are also very good in sweet dishes, for example with desserts such as fruit salad or ice cream. Other kumquat recipes include kumquat compote, kumquat chutney, or candied kumquats. Kumquat chutney goes well as a sweet and spicy alternative to cheese or meat. To do this, you can, for example, boil down kumquats together with apricots, carrots, onions, garlic, and chili with sugar.
Kumquats also go very well with spirits. A simple kumquat liqueur recipe is as follows: 500 grams of kumquats are made with the same amount of sugar and, if you like, with cloves, vanilla, and cinnamon in cognac or brandy. After two weeks, the delicious kumquat liqueur can be enjoyed.
Another popular use of the fruit is kumquat syrup. To do this, 250 grams of the small fruits are boiled down with 600 grams of sugar and six tablespoons of lemon juice.
Dwarf orange jam is also particularly popular: Kumquats are boiled down with the same amount of sugar.
Recipe kumquat jam:
- 1.5 kilos of washed kumquats, without seeds
- 4 – 5 oranges
- 2 lemons
- 1 kg of sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
To do this, wash the kumquats, dry them, and cut them into fine slices. Remove all the stones with a sharp knife and peel the oranges and lemons. Put the kumquats and the zest of the oranges and lemons in a large saucepan. Cut open the vanilla pod, scrape out the pulp and also add to the saucepan, sprinkle the sugar over it, but do not stir. Let the whole thing boil down for three hours on low heat, still do not stir. Then fill into glasses.
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