Kabosu and Sudachi and Uses

A mikan (satsuma) as big as a large orange...

I love citrus. Maybe more than the average person. I have 14 satsuma trees, a yuzu, a kabosu, a sudachi, and three kumquats. I just can't get enough! Of course, the satsuma are all pretty young, and have yet to come into bearing. There was one on the tree this year. I watched as the solitary fruit got bigger and bigger- it was the size of a navel orange! Then the goats escaped.... Papa was not happy that day....

But where was I? Oh yeah, my kabosu and sudachi trees were planted a year earlier than the satsumas, so they have come into bearing. And boy, did they ever!

Sudachi

Sudachi closeup

My sudachi was covered in fruit. I have been picking and using it since September, and there are still fruits on it. Most of the use is pretty simple- making sudachi-ade, squeezing it into soda water, or making margaritas. We used some on some fish too. Wonderful stuff, this sudachi. Usually they are used when still green, but the cooler fall weather turned them orange. Still taste the same.

Kabosu

The other tree that is bearing as well is the kabosu. A kabosu is larger than a sudachi, and tastes more like a lemon I think. It has a nice, thick peel that you can use for zest, or you can boil it down with some sugar to make candied kabosu. That was so good. My simple take on the recipe? Quarter the fruit, peel and all. Cut 5mm slices. Weigh it. Add that weight of sugar and the fruit into a pot with 100ml of water. Boil it down until it is ambrosia.

Kabosu also work well in soda water or any cocktail that would use a lemon or lime. Like the sudachi, they are traditionally used green.

What do you think? Any ideas on how to use up this bounty?