Once I labored at a farm restaurant in Maui, we grew most of our produce. Given the realm’s tropical local weather, that meant a number of fruits: lilikoi (Hawaiian for passionfruit), cacao pods (sure, technically a fruit), and many types of citrus. There have been bitter, orange-fleshed calamansi, bumpy Makrut limes, and my favourite, finger limes.
On look alone, you may not guess that this finger-shaped fruit belongs to the lime household (it kind of resembles a teeny cucumber). However break up one open and also you’ll discover a trove of pale-green caviar-like pearls crammed with tangy juice, able to garnish fish tacos (as we served them on the restaurant), or any dish that might use a pop of acid.
The place can you discover finger limes, and how are you going to use them in your cooking? Let’s get into it.
What are finger limes?
Mature finger limes approximate a human thumb in measurement and form (therefore the title). There are a number of types of this fruit, with skins in various shades of inexperienced, purple, yellow, and purple, every with slight variance in taste. However right here’s the actually particular half: As an alternative of the juicy wedges present in a typical Persian lime, a finger lime’s juices are saved in tiny globules recognized colloquially as “lime caviar.” (Technically, “vesicles,” however that’s not as enjoyable a phrase.)
When the fruit is ripe, the pearls are crisp and crunchy, and explode like Pop Rocks in your mouth. Cooks love them as a result of they add visible and textural curiosity to any dish. “Squeeze out the pulp onto a dish, and as an alternative of including acid juice in liquid type, you’re going to get all these crunchy little items of citrus,” says chef Adrienne Cheatham.
How to buy, cook dinner with, and retailer finger limes:
Until you will have a finger lime tree rising in your yard, these treasured fruits could be difficult to supply. Native to Australia, finger limes develop finest in heat climates—within the contiguous US, your finest bets are California and Florida. They’re not often discovered at grocery shops within the US however could be bought on-line from Pearson Ranch or Miami Fruit. You can even purchase your very personal finger lime tree from on-line retailers like Williams Sonoma or Etsy—simply bear in mind it could possibly take as much as two years to supply fruit.
How will you inform if a finger lime is ripe? “Ripe ones could have a pleasant shiny pores and skin, which implies the fruit continues to be producing oil,” says Tristan Kwong, also called the Fruit Somm. Search for plump finger limes that really feel agency, not empty. If the lime has totally hardened, seems to be boring, and/or feels gentle for its measurement, the pearls inside might have dried out.
