Happy New Year everybody! My first recipe in this year is for a frugal preserve that has to be made ahead and takes about four days to mature. I call it "frugal" because it uses citrus fruit peel that I normally discarded after the juice has been squeezed out of the fruit.
As far as I am concerned, this is a truly perfect raw marmalade. It is traditionally made in Korea with yuzu peel and sugar or honey. It is used with hot water as tea, or to sweeten various desserts.
I always loved the traditional orange marmalade, especially the bitter type. In fact, the more bitter the better. Unfortunately, like many preserves, the orange peel has to be cooked with sugar. My raw yuzu marmalade seems like a great alternative and is worth trying.
Outside of Asia, yuzu fruit (Citrus junos), also known as yuja, is a rarity. It is very pricey! You can get it from Asian grocers, and sometimes, you can even find it in selected supermarkets. It is a weird, sour fruit. It has dozens of seeds, very little fruit pulp and juice, but it has an incredibly aromatic peel. I used the juice and zest in my salad dressings before, but I have never considered using the entire peel. Until now. The outcome is fantastic.
If you are a vegan who does not eat honey, this recipe is not for you. Agave syrup is a not a healthy alternative. It is as bad as refined sugar itself. Delicate raw honey is the only sweetener I suggest using in this recipe if you want to get the real, unadulterated taste of yuzu.
Ingredients:
- 4 yuzu fruit
- 1 cup of light, mild raw honey (like lime flower or clover honey)
Method:
- Thoroughly wash the yuzu in warm water, vinegar, and baking soda to remove any dirt and wax.
- Cut each fruit in half and using a fork gently remove all the seeds. Discard the seeds. With a fork or a spoon scrape out the fruit pulp and the juice. Using personal blender, small food processor, or kitchen scissors, chop up the fruit pulp.
- With a sharp knife cut the peel into very thin slices (julienne.) Cut the longer slices in half.
- In a bowl, mix the sliced yuzu peel with the chopped up fruit pulp, and the juice. You could add honey here, but I find it easier and less messy to mix honey in the jar, as shown in the next step.
- Start filling the sterilized jar alternating between the mixture of peel and pulp, and raw honey. Stir each layer with a fork, then load the next layer till the jar is full. Close the jar with a lid and place it in the fridge for a day or two.
- Open the jar and check the consistency. Stir the contents with a fork, close the lid, and return the jar to the fridge for another day or two.
- The marmalade is ready to eat after three or four days. It has a very nice, slightly bitter citrus taste and it isn't too sweet. Serve it with raw desserts or on raw crackers with nut cheese, and enjoy in good company. Store in refrigerator.
Tip: You can enjoy this delicious marmalade the way people do in Korea. Boil some water and add a spoonful of marmalade to it, stir with a spoon, and sip. To make sure that you are not destroying any vitamin C or the precious enzymes, simply cool down the water to 104°F or 40°C.
I hope that yuzu fruit becomes more popular in Northern America and Europe. This small fruit comes with many health benefits. It is rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, A, some B vitamins including thiamine, B5, B6; copper, some magnesium, iron, zinc, and calcium; and fiber. It contains antioxidant compounds like limonoids, carotenoids, and flavonoids that may help reduce inflammation in the body, prevent formation of blood clots, boost immune system, and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Together with raw honey, yuzu is a perfect food for the cold season. The healing properties of both ingredients cannot be stressed enough.
Since yuzu is so difficult to obtain, I will try to make raw kumquat marmalade next time. Kumquats are very small, have many seeds, very little fruit flesh, and a rather bitter peel. The process will be exactly the same, so my hopes for a delicious raw marmalade are high.
In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique
Dominique Allmon©2023
*Information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or cure a disease.