Seek Out New Life Forms - What is a Buddha's Hand?

By Anthony Todd in Food on Dec 2, 2010 8:00PM

Much like the our last creature, the Rambutan, the Buddha's Hand looks at first glance like some sort of alien life form. Less like an egg and more like a creature, we thought it could possibly be a fruit version of the facehugger from Alien. As such, we were sure to securely wrap it in a shopping bag and carry it at arms length, lest it try to impregnate us with its lemon-y goodness.

The Buddha's Hand (also known as the Fingered Citron, which just sounds bad) is a citrus fruit originating in China and India. It smells wonderful, and is worth the expense (around $4) just to put it on a table and let it perfume your home. Unlike some of the other fruits we have profiled, the Buddha's Hand is also incredibly useful, a welcome and, we hope, regular addition to our culinary arsenal. It is an entire fruit made of lemon zest - no "fruit" interior, no seeds and no stringy bits. There is enough surface to zest that cooks can get all they need. The zest is slightly sweeter than lemon, with a pungent aroma - we substitute it into anything that calls for citrus. We made a batch of shortbread scattered with Buddha's Hand zest, and it was gone in about 2 hours, and a martini with a twist of Buddha's Hand peel would have a sophisticated touch of sweetness. If you can't find them at mainstream supermarkets, try Chinese and Japanese grocery stores - just make sure to wrap it up, in case it strikes.