Kumquat what is prepared from it. Kumquat: benefits and harm to health. DIY fertilizer

The homeland of the kumquat is China. In European territory, it is grown on the Greek island of Corfu. In Russia, kumquat is grown only as a houseplant.

The small, oblong fruit has a sweet, thin skin and is eaten without peeling. The fruits are used to make preserves, jams, liqueurs and liqueurs.

Kumquat jam turns out beautiful, the fruits become translucent and have a pronounced citrus taste and aroma. The delicacy is easy to prepare and contains kumquat.

Classic kumquat jam

A preparation made from this exotic fruit will delight those with a sweet tooth and will impress guests.

Ingredients:

  • kumquat – 2 kg;
  • granulated sugar – 2 kg;
  • water – 500 ml.

Preparation:

  1. The fruits need to be washed and cut each into several circles.
  2. Remove the seeds.
  3. Prepare sugar syrup and dip the prepared pieces into it.
  4. Cook for a few minutes, skimming off any foam.
  5. Leave to cool, covered, until the next morning.
  6. The next day, cook, stirring with a wooden spatula and skimming off the foam for about a quarter of an hour. Check readiness with a drop of syrup on the plate.
  7. Pour the finished jam hot into sterile jars. Store in a cool place.

This delicacy can be served with tea or used as a sweet topping for porridge or fermented milk products.

Whole kumquat jam

Whole transparent berries look impressive in a vase served with tea.

Ingredients:

  • kumquat – 1 kg;
  • granulated sugar – 1 kg;
  • orange – 2 pcs.

Preparation:

  1. Wash the fruit. Squeeze the juice out of the oranges.
  2. Prick the kumquats in several places with a toothpick.
  3. Make a thick syrup from sugar and orange juice. If the oranges are not too juicy, you can add a little water.
  4. Stir so that the sugar does not burn.
  5. Place the kumquats in the syrup and cook over medium heat for about a quarter of an hour, skimming off the foam and stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
  6. Leave it to brew for a day.
  7. The next day, cook the jam until ready, checking a drop of syrup on a ceramic plate.
  8. Pour the jam into prepared jars and store in a cool place.

Ingredients:

  • kumquat – 1 kg;
  • granulated sugar – 1 kg;
  • cinnamon – 1 pc.

Preparation:

  1. Wash the kumquats and cut them into halves. Remove seeds.
  2. Place your halves in a saucepan, add water to cover the fruits and cook for about half an hour.
  3. Drain the water and cover the kumquats with granulated sugar. Add one cinnamon stick. If desired, you can add seeds from a vanilla pod or a bag of vanilla sugar.
  4. If you want the syrup to be thinner, you can add a little water in which the kumquats were boiled.
  5. Cook the jam over low heat for about an hour, stirring with a wooden spoon and skimming off the foam.
  6. Place the finished jam into sterile jars.

This thick and aromatic jam is suitable for baking. But just a bowl served with tea will delight those with a sweet tooth.

This jam is not too cloying and thick, so it is suitable for sweet baked goods.

Ingredients:

  • kumquat – 1 kg;
  • granulated sugar – 1 kg;
  • lemon – 3 pcs.

Preparation:

  1. Wash the kumquats and cut them in half.
  2. Take out the bones and put them in gauze, they will come in handy.
  3. Sprinkle the halves with sugar and squeeze the juice from the lemons into the pan with the future jam.
  4. Let the sugar sit and dissolve for several hours. Stir the contents of the pan occasionally with a wooden spoon.
  5. Place the pan on low heat for about half an hour.
  6. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam that forms.
  7. After the specified time, remove the kumquats with a slotted spoon and place the cheesecloth with seeds into the syrup. They will help the syrup thicken.
  8. Boil the syrup until jelly-like for about another half hour.
  9. Then the gauze with the seeds needs to be removed and the kumquat halves returned to the pan.
  10. Boil the fruits for about ten minutes and put the thick jam into prepared jars.

Jelly-like jam with a citrus aroma will appeal to all your loved ones.

Kumquat jam also has a healing effect for colds. This sweet and tasty medicine will delight your children. Try making kumquat jam according to one of the suggested recipes, you will definitely like it. Bon appetit!

Candied kumquat

Kumquat is a citrus plant grown on an industrial scale in its homeland in China, Greece, and also in the United States of America, in Florida. The small fruits of this tree have soft, sweet skin and sour flesh, so they are eaten whole with peel and seeds.

The fruits are incredibly healthy, they contain a lot of vitamins (A, E, K, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12) and microelements (potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, sodium, zinc) . You can write a whole article about the beneficial properties of this Chinese mandarin, but there are many such articles and you can easily find them.

All over the world it is a popular unpretentious crop for growing in vases, winter gardens, on terraces... The kumquat tree is miniature in size, actively bushes and develops a beautiful dense crown with small leaves, blooms with fragrant white flowers and bears fruit abundantly. There are numerous natural and artificial hybrids of kumquat, or, as it is also called, kinkan.

The photo shows my kumquat tree with a modest first harvest. Small tangerines serve as a bright decoration for the crown, but they still need to be torn off so that the plant blooms again in July-August and new fruits begin to ripen that will ripen in the winter.

The first harvest from my favorite tree brought me great joy, despite the fact that it turned out to be very small, only about 300 grams of fruit.

I would love to cook whole candied fruits, but my kumquat (Fortunella margarita) has numerous seeds inside, up to 5 pieces, which are best removed. My dream is to get hold of a Nordmann Seedless Nagami kumquat, a newly created seedless form of the Nagami kumquat.

So, photo recipe for making candied citrus fruits, in this case, from kumquat (or kinkan).

Ingredients:

  • 300 grams of fruits,
  • 300 grams of sugar,
  • 100 ml water,
  • juice of one lemon. 4 days for 10 min. (can be 5 days)

I thoroughly washed, dried and weighed the fruits, then cut them into slices and circles, removing the seeds from them.

I made syrup from water and sugar.

Once the sugar was completely dissolved in the water and the syrup was ready to boil, I submerged the chopped fruit in it, brought it to a boil and let the whole thing simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and left it to cool.

The next day, I brought the syrup with the berries to a boil again and boiled for 10 minutes. And so on for five days, that is, the kumquat fruits were subjected to heat treatment five times for 10 minutes.

After everything had cooled, I used a sieve to separate the fruits from the syrup. The syrup can be used to make drinks, add to baked goods…

How many types of citrus fruits do you know? Three? Five? What about 28? Indeed, in addition to the well-known orange, lemon, tangerine and grapefruit, this friendly family includes bergamot, pomelo, lime, clementine and many others.

But there is a fruit in this row whose fiery fruits are very difficult to pass by. This is a kumquat (also called kinkan, or Japanese orange).

In Europe, kumquat is listed as one of the nine citrus fruits most commonly eaten by the average consumer.

The skin of the kumquat is very sweet, but the flesh is sour. Therefore, it is better to eat it whole in order to “balance” the taste of the sweet skin and sour pulp.

Kumquats are grown in China, Japan, Greece, the USA, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, as well as in Georgia and even in Russia - in the Krasnodar Territory. This is an incomplete list of countries where this citrus fruit grows; it is all the more surprising that we, Russians, know so little about it.

Translated from Chinese, “kumquat” means “dwarf orange.” In Europe, it was classified as a member of the citrus genus, subgenus Fortunella.

Kumquat is grown not only for harvesting, but also as an ornamental plant: during flowering, it is completely covered with white flowers, and during the ripening of the fruits, the tree turns from white to golden.

Residents of Asian countries place kumquat peel next to the fire, believing that it enhances the beneficial properties of the fruit and expands the area of ​​their influence.

By inhaling the fire-intensified aroma of the peel, coughs and colds are treated.

Kumquat contains large amounts of furakumarin. This is a substance with strong antifungal activity, so the fruits are often used to treat fungal diseases.

Like other citrus crops, kumquat is able to activate the gastrointestinal tract, reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, help fight depression, fatigue and apathy, and relieve nervous tension.

Kumquat fruits contain a large amount of essential oils, potassium and calcium salts, vitamins A, B and C; the plant does not accumulate nitrates at all.

Kumquat, among other things, has immunostimulating properties and helps the body adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions.

In the East, the fruits are very popular as a hangover reliever. It is enough to eat a couple of these amazing fruits in the morning, after an evening feast, and there will be no trace of a hangover.

Plant for the room unique: very beautiful, and also quite shade-tolerant. Loves neutral soil and moderate watering.

Kumquat contains vitamins A and C and is rich in indigestible fiber.

This citrus fruit is also rich in flavonoids, beta-cryptoxanthin, in other words, antioxidants that fight free radicals and protect against cancer.

How to choose
The kumquat should be smooth, shiny, and without cracks.

How to store
Kumquats should be washed and dried before storing. Kumquats can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
You can also puree kumquat and freeze it. This puree can be stored for up to six months.

How to cook
Kumquat is the only citrus fruit that is best eaten straight with the peel. Before eating a kumquat, you must first wash it, then roll it in your fingers to release the essential oil, and only then eat it.

The bright aroma of kumquat will add a pleasant note to mulled wine.

Kumquat is also used in preparing all kinds of dishes: it is added to salads, jam is made, marmalade is made from it, sauces for meat and poultry, etc.

Kumquat sauce

Extract the juice from the kumquat using a meat grinder. Then fill the pulp with water and boil for 7-10 minutes. Then strain and add sugar, spices and starch. Place on the fire and bring to a boil. Pour out the juice obtained earlier.

Ingredients for the sauce:
- kumquat - 100 g;
- potato starch - 30 g;
- granulated sugar - 80 g;
- salt and spices - to taste;
- water - 1 liter.

Kumquat marmalade

Cut the kumquat fruit and remove the grains. Cut the pulp into pieces, put in a cup, add 0.5 liters of water. Do the same with grains. Leave it all overnight.

Then move the pulp and grains into a saucepan, filling them with the same water in which they were located. Bring to a boil and cook, reducing heat, for half an hour. Then add sugar and lemon juice. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cook for one hour until tender. Turn off the heat and let sit for about ten minutes.

Mix and pour into jars. Insist for two weeks.

Ingredients for marmalade:
- kumquat - 500 g;
- water - 1 liter;
- sugar - 4 cups;
- lemon juice from two fruits.

Kumquat jam

Prick the kumquat fruits in several places, then pour boiling water over them so that the fruits float freely. Leave overnight. In the morning, repeat the procedure.

Ingredients for jam:
- kumquat - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1 kg;
- water for syrup - 250 ml.

The piquant sourness makes Japanese orange an original snack for strong drinks such as whiskey and cognac.

By the way, it’s customary only for us to snack on the latter with citrus fruits. According to legend, the tradition came from Emperor Nicholas II, who, not being a cognac lover, did not want to offend the supplier of the royal court, the owner of the Yerevan Brandy Factory, Nikolai Shustov.

After taking a few sips of the strong drink, the king snacked on it with lemon to justify the sour expression on his face. The rest had no choice but to follow suit, and thus a tradition was born.

Just leave a few pieces of kumquat in the morning when you have a snack - it perfectly relieves hangover syndrome.

If you prefer a more serious appetizer or just love dishes, try cooking chicken fillet or pork with kumquats.

You will need:

  • 1-2 kg boneless pork tenderloin;
  • 2 tbsp. l. coarse salt;
  • 225 g kumquats;
  • 4 tbsp. l. orange confiture;
  • 10-12 fresh bay leaves.

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Place the pork in a baking dish and rub with salt. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, then lower the temperature to 180 degrees C for another 40 minutes. Add kumquats, drizzle with marmalade and bake for 10 minutes. Add bay leaves and mix with juice.

2. Bake for a further 10 minutes until the pork is golden and cooked through (poke it with a skewer - the juices should run clear). Cut the pork into pieces and serve with kumquats, pan juices and vegetable puree.

Kumquat is a small evergreen shrub that belongs to the Rutaceae family, included in the genus Citrus. This plant is found in the wild in China, where it is also cultivated. This plant is also grown as a home ornamental tree. Since the plant’s root system is weak, it is propagated by grafting onto other citrus fruits. The stem of the shrub is dense, the branches are spreading, densely dotted with narrow leaves of rich green color. The kumquat fruit is a smaller oval version of an orange. That is why these fruits are often called Chinese oranges. In their raw form, citrus fruits are consumed with the peel, because it is sweet and only slightly bitter, while the pulp is very sour.
Despite the fact that the calorie content of the tropical fruit is average, due to its high carbohydrate content, it is not recommended to abuse it, otherwise it may cause problems with excess weight. At the same time, eating fruits helps eliminate heavy metals, toxins and cholesterol from the body, so the product is used in dietetics, but in strictly defined quantities. Kumquat fruits contain a variety of minerals and a whole range of vitamins. Like any other citrus fruit, the fruit of this plant is beneficial for the body and immune system due to its high content of vitamin C. The furakumarin contained in the fruit fights infectious diseases and inflammatory processes, and provides antifungal protection to the body. Essential oils of this plant and its fruits are used in cosmetology and perfumery.

Before learning recipes for winter preparations from kumquat, you need to learn how to choose the right ripe fruits. The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing is the condition of the peel and its color. A ripe fruit will have a rich orange hue and there should be no cracks or dents on its surface. Excessive softness of the fruit is a clear sign that the kumquat is overripe. The raw fruit keeps well in the refrigerator for three weeks.
Now that the fruits have been selected, you can start preparing them for future use. Most often, candied fruits are prepared from kumquat for the winter. It is no less popular to dry and dry whole fruits at home, because their peel is sweet, and during the cooking process this indicator will only improve its characteristics. Original citrus sauces with a slight hint of acidity and bitterness are perfect for meat and fish dishes. Fruits can be preserved in combination with other fruits of the same type. You can make real liqueur with your own hands from kumquat. The fruits, crushed to a puree, are frozen. It is better to store such a preparation in a small container, because fruit puree cannot be re-frozen.
Detailed and visual recipes for kumquat preparations for the winter with step-by-step instructions can be found below. They also describe the most suitable methods for storing workpieces.

Kumquat is a citrus fruit that resembles an orange in appearance, only smaller in size and slightly flattened. Kumquat has one peculiarity: the peel tastes sweet, but the flesh, on the contrary, is sour and tart. The Chinese call it "golden orange". How to eat kumquat, and what benefits does it have for human health? This question worries many, because few people are familiar with this exotica.

Kumquat has a rich chemical composition. The benefits of overseas fruits are invaluable to human health. The “golden orange” contains a large amount of useful substances, vitamins and microelements. In addition, the fruits are rich in minerals and pectin.

Dwarf orange contains essential oils. Due to this, it is used to prevent respiratory diseases, it helps resist infections, bacteria and fungi, and prevents inflammatory processes.

The benefits and harms of kumquat

The value of the fruit lies in its ability to resist many diseases, because eating a mini-orange helps strengthen the immune system.

Benefits of kumquat:

  1. The functioning of the digestive tract improves.
  2. Metabolism improves.
  3. The fruit prevents the development of cancer.
  4. Improves mood and relieves stress.
  5. Used to prevent joint diseases.

Dried and duodenum. Used for the prevention of diabetes mellitus, in order to normalize blood pressure. The substances it contains are involved in tissue regeneration, removing harmful substances from the body.

Neurologists recommend eating fruit in any form (fresh, dried, dried) for those people whose work involves stress. The beneficial properties are to normalize the activity of the nervous system, help relieve chronic fatigue, irritability, stress, and relieve depression. Even the rainbow color of the skin of a mini-orange lifts the mood, and the substances contained in it help improve overall tone, relieve apathy, pessimism, fill with strength and a person feels active.

On a note! Kumquat will be especially useful for those who love rich feasts. The positive property of the fruit lies in its ability to free a person from the symptoms of a hangover.

Eastern healers use dwarf orange to treat ARVI, flu, runny nose and dry cough. Daily 3-time inhalations made on mini-orange peels help relieve a person from a runny nose.

Kumquat is considered a dietary product. Without a doubt, it helps fight excess weight. If we compare it with other fruits, for example, apples, then kumquat contains large quantities of polysaccharides, pectin and cellulose. These substances are effective in losing weight.

Systematic consumption of the fruit lowers cholesterol levels, cleanses blood vessels, which, in turn, prevents diseases such as atherosclerosis, stroke and heart attack.

However, you should not get carried away with the product often, as excessive consumption leads to obesity.

The fruit can cause harm to people with gastrointestinal and kidney diseases, as increased acidity will provoke their exacerbation.

Pregnant and nursing mothers should not take it, kumquat will cause allergies in the baby.

Rules of use

Hong Kong kumquat is the most delicious and sweet. All other fruits are sour, and only the peel can be eaten.

Over the course of 100 years, Asian chefs have learned to prepare dishes from sweet and sour fruits. Fruits with sourness are used to make jams, candied fruits, and marmalade. And how delicious kumquat jam is! Real jam!

In addition, chefs add fruit to main courses of fish and poultry. The baked goods, cakes and muffins turn out to be very tasty – simply delicious! You can make canned food from it. Europeans add kumquats to salads, replacing olives.

How to eat fresh

Sweet fruits are eaten raw. Before eating, they are cut into small pieces (slices). Many nutritionists advise consuming kumquat in its raw form, since in this case it contains fewer calories. If in its raw form there are 71 kcal per 100 g of fruit, then 300 kcal per 100 g of candied fruit.

On a note! Residents of Russia prefer to eat dried kumquat, even despite its unpresentable appearance.

In the southern regions, golden orange is dried directly in the open air. When exposed to high temperatures, kumquat turns brown, wrinkles and becomes dark. Dried fruit contains the same amount of nutrients as fresh fruit.

How to eat dried

How to eat dried kumquat and what are its benefits? Sour fruits are almost impossible to eat raw. Such fruits are subject to culinary processing - they are dried in a dryer.

Dried “dwarf orange”, however, like dried orange, is considered an excellent dessert, which is used to snack on strong alcoholic drinks. However, this tradition of serving kumquat with cognac is found only among Slavic peoples.

Residents of Asia add kumquat to tea, eat it with honey or molasses. To make the tea fragrant, crushed overseas fruit is added to it.

Contraindications for kumquat

If a person is allergic to citrus fruits, he is contraindicated to eat mini-oranges. In addition, you should not eat if you have an individual intolerance.

Contraindications:

  • gastrointestinal diseases;
  • diseases of the genitourinary system.

If these diseases are present, kumquat should be completely excluded from the diet.

How to choose?

When choosing a fruit, first of all you need to pay attention to its appearance and touch it. The mini-orange should be soft, but not spread out in your hands. A high-quality fruit has a clean skin, without visible damage, dents or scratches. The surface is smooth, shiny, the peel is bright orange.

An overly soft consistency indicates that the fruit is already spoiled, it is overripe. After purchase, store in the refrigerator.

What can you eat with - recipes

The beautiful and bright appearance makes this fruit very attractive for culinary delights. They decorate appetizers at buffets, sandwiches and salads. After heat treatment, the fruits are used to prepare sauces, casseroles from cottage cheese and yogurt, and confiture.

Pickled kumquat

Pickled fruits are good for making salads with duck breast or king prawns.

Ingredients:

  • 0.5 kg kumquat;
  • 250 g sugar;
  • a pinch of cinnamon;
  • 240 ml white wine vinegar.

Step-by-step preparation:

  1. Before using, kumquat fruits should be thoroughly washed with a brush, placed in a saucepan, poured water and simmered over low heat.
  2. After boiling, it is recommended to cook for 0.5 hours, then drain in a colander to drain excess liquid.
  3. Next, in a separate pan, you need to mix all the other ingredients, put on the fire and wait until the mixture boils, put the fruits boiled until half cooked in it and cook for 3/4 hour. The readiness of the fruits can be determined by their color - they should become transparent.

Now you need to get the fruits, put them in sterilized jars, and boil the remaining syrup until thick, pour it over the fruits and seal the jars.

Cocktail "Caipirinha"

In the frosty winter you want something warming. For this purpose, you can prepare a delicious cocktail, the pleasant properties of which include such as neutralizing the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages.

Ingredients:

  • 5 pieces. kumquat fruit;
  • 65 ml white rum;
  • 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
  • 1 tsp. ginger

The process of preparing a warming cocktail:

The fruits need to be cut into thin slices, the remaining ingredients are placed in a shaker and shaken well. The cocktail is ready. All that remains is to pour into glasses, add ice and you can start tasting.

Cocktail with cranberries and kumquat “Classic”

The cocktail can be prepared at any time of the year, as long as you have all the ingredients on hand. You can take frozen cranberries and make a fruit drink from it; you can also buy it in the store.

Ingredients:

  • 0.5 liters of orange juice;
  • 0.5 liters of cranberry juice;
  • 4 things. mini orange;
  • 0.5 tsp. ginger;
  • 1 medium orange;
  • sugar and pepper are added to taste.

Cooking process:

  1. To obtain fruit juice, place cranberries in a blender, add water and grind thoroughly.
  2. Then you need to strain the juice, and the remaining cake must be placed in a saucepan, filled with water and boiled for several minutes, then mixed with the juice and poured into a large saucepan.
  3. You also need to add kumquat and orange slices, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon and strain the juice.

The drink turns out rich and can be drunk by diluting it with water in the required amount. When serving, it is recommended to add fruit slices and cranberries to the cocktail.

Having examined the beneficial properties of the overseas fruit, assessed its health benefits and understood how dried, fresh and raw kumquat are eaten, we can conclude that the golden orange is truly a healthy product for both children and adults. Regular inclusion in the diet helps improve immunity, and therefore overall well-being.

Kumquat - what kind of fruit and how to eat it:

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