I'm half morrocan and my family has been doing this for years! I absolutely love it! Pro tip: (which I'm probably going to regret because a magician never reveals their secrets) use a preserved lemon in hummus instead of (or along with) lemon juice. Just blend it up with the rest of the hummus ingredients and will change your hummus world
Peter Le This is the most delicious drink I have ever tried. I’m so hooked now and waiting for my lemons to ripen. Also I will go back to the wonderful Vietnamese restaurant where I tried it.
I'm vietnamese and my mom does this with limes. She uses a little of this as a cool tea in the summer. It naturally has a sweetness and slightly salty flavor.
I make preserved lemons too. I do add a bit of clove, pepper corn and coriander seeds to the mix, while fermenting. We use just about a teaspoon of the juice in tequila, soda and ice. We call it a Long Shot, sooo good.
So here I am in Casablanca Morocco, eating these lemons right now! No, not in a dish, just by themselves! They are too good to share with an actual recipe sometimes! 😋❤️
Hello Joshua: Great video on technique. Bear in mind, that it's crucial to use non-iodized salt (Kosher, Sea, or Pickling). At best, iodized salt will slow the fermentation; at worst, it won't occur. Be sure to check sea salt because some of it is iodized. Thanks again for a great video.
I have a jar of these in my cabinet :) I was initially only using them for my Moroccan dishes when I miss home but it's nice to see I can use them for other dishes as well! I will add it to my guacamole today :D Thanks for the tip! Pro tip from a Moroccan: you can also just put a layer of olive oil on top and it will create a seal. You can then keep them in a cabinet. This will also add more flavor ;)
My indian mother in law do this with lime. But different process because we put the jar under the sun during the day, and not all the limes submerge on its juice. And it took about 3-4 months. The preserved lime is wilted, dark brown colour, and almost dry. We usually make it as pickle, mix with onion and chilli and a little bit coconut milk, then eat with mutton biryani n rice. The taste is tart, salty, very complimentary with the biryani. It's...to die for. Gosh, i'm salivating now 😣
What the hell is the youtube algo doing that I keep finding all these good new creators!?! I like it, seriously enjoying your cinematography and technique.
Ayyy! I've never imagined that after countless hours of watching you cook, you present the rest of the world with an essential Moroccan condiment! I reached Nirvana! Thank You!
I have lemons that's preserved in salt for 10 years called "Black Lemon" and they are so good making them to black lemonade. You can also make black lemon chicken soup of them.
my family has done this every year for many many years. We keep it out in the sun to avoid mold. 10-15 lemons lasts us about a whole year. I love it so much I have it with almost every meal
I have a beautiful Meyer lemon tree/bush and it keeps producing sweet aromatic lemons. I'm going to give this a try, thx. Arizona is loaded with Meyer lemon trees in damn near every yard.
I do a similar thing with the Japanese plums growing in my area. It turns them into a totally edible treat called Umeboshi. Due to the high salt content i limit myself to 3-4 Omeboshi a day. But instead of mashing the fruit down i place them all in a pot, sea salt added alternating with plums using 1/5 weight ratio(1 kg. salt for 5 kg. plums). then i place a plate over them and add some weight's to press down for a few weeks. Was able to eat them throughout the year without refrigeration.
in India lemon pickle is made this way, ofcourse chilli powder and other spices are added later for taste. A tip don't use iodized salt instead use raw sea salt unprocessed or rock salt.
I've had these fermenting for the last month, and just pulled them out last night. Tossed them in the rice cooker with some rice and ground beef then, and added them to some tacos this morning. Both were fantastic. They're almost good enough to eat by themselves (just too slimy for my tastes to eat that way).
I'm from Spain, a jet ski ride away from Morocco, and i swear i've never heard of preserved salted lemons. Here we make confit and candy out of them and white sugar. And if you have a yard of land, you plant lemon, orange and tangerine trees, and weather does the rest so that you can enjoy them fresh from the tree almost the whole year through. I cannot recall me buying lemons in a supermarket and i am almost 40. By the way, i love so much your chanel. I first knew you searching for an avocado toast recipe and i fell deeply in love with the Croissant Issue. I'll try them this winter. Keep up the great job.
I'm Moroccan and I can assure you THEY ARE one of the essential condiments in the Moroccan cuisine. I'm guessing you mainly visit the north of Morocco (that would be Tangier Tetouan, etc...) and I'm not sure if preserved lemons are widely used up there, but they are in the rest of the cities and you can actually see them in piles alongside olives in Moroccan souks. they pair well with fish and chicken.
This is easily my favorite fermented food. I just want to note that if you actually take the time to measure out 10% salt by weight you never need to refrigerate them, and they keep for years.
@@Romulux I guess you found this out by now, but 10% salt in anything is salty af. I chopped mixed garden herbs and put 10% salt by weight and did the same separately with fresh dill. Put it in the jars and in the cellar. Then in the winter, when there was no fresh greens unless you sprout seeds I brought one jar of each and let me tell you, if you use so preserved herbs, you need no other salt in the dish. And I usually love salty taste. 😅
A Cantonese drink recipe involving preserved lemon: one whole preserved lemon, ice cubes, and 7up. As popular as milk tea I’d say and 10 times easier to make
Soda is actually very acidic, salt can counteract the taste of sourness as it prevents the sour tastebuds from perceiving sour flavours accentuating sweet flavours. Preserving the lemon in salt also counteracts the bitter rind's flavor, my mom who is Vietnamese uses it as a cold remedy, you eat it whole with honey sucking on the juices and gargling it. It works but I personally don't like it to her extent.
Thank you so much! I've had mine in the fridge since February 2020 and used my last piece for Moroccan chicken last night. So perfectly preserved for 3 years! About to make mere...obsessed :))) Thanks again
In Vietnam we wait for them to preserve for half a year and more. My mom friend have a jar that preserved for 10 plus years. We use them to make salty lemonade as a sore throat remedy and it is also good for the flu. We also limes instead of lemons.
Thank you for this awesome recipe. Made a glas of it, me and my roomates love it so much, had to buy another insane amount of lemons and make a solid supply. Went a little bit crazy and used the same technique with some blood oranges.
@@jacomokrause8576 As far as I remember it wasn't bad, but not also not so good as I expected it. It didn't work with the usual north african dishes, like tajine or couscous, but blended with chinese five spices it was really nice to use for asian style marinades for porn, duck or chicken.
I use to make these at my restaurant because we had cases of lemons. It makes the most ethereal egg salad and really highlights the ingredient. I feel they get lost otherwise in more complex dishes.
Hey coming in a bit late though I saw this video nearly over an year ago. In India we have a similar pickle while whole Lemon and salt, kept away for almost a "DECADE OR TWO" (understand many will freak out). They become medicinal as aperitifs. We call them Black lemon pille or grand granny pickle
*Don't put in the fridge! Use kosher salt, and cover the last 1/4 to 1/2" with olive oil to stop air from getting in. This will also add to the flavor.
@@clemensmartin1034 yup, that was my thinking...plus we're not measuring here, which is different between kosher/regular. I started this last night, and did use kosher salt (but almost tried pink Himalayan sea salt, would like to try that next)....and am doing the olive oil layer. I'll definitely update in the comments my results.
This is one of the most simple traditional pickle at our place. Either you can cut lemons into half/quarter and throw salt over them or just wash and dry the lemons and cover them with salt. Either way it works. Putting the jar under the sun makes the process faster. Within a month the lemons become soft and ready to be eaten. It is known to increase apetite, more so if you add some green chillies and grated ginger.👍🙏
@@iamthatiam7523 not at all. Just make a layer of salt, then a layer of lemon and repeat the process till the jar is full. Top it up with a layer of salt at the end. Keep it under the sun on the same day so that process is started soon. After few days, juices start flowing out of the lemon. Shake the bottle so that lemon and salt are uniformly distributed. After a month or 45 days your lemon pickle is ready to eat. You can add radish, carrot, ginger, chilli along with lime. A little spice such as turmeric etc may be used to give it a nice colour and flavour.
Josh, just wanted to say I love your videos. You do an amazing job for those of us that are above a starting chef, but not yet able to follow a recipe after watching once. I LOVE how you are specific about measurements, when to care vs. when to not, and how you assure us we can do it! You rock, dude.
North African here (egyptian), I was thinking it's just lemon and salt, but it's super delicious. We make it with the small lemons and preserve it whole, also we collect lemon skins in freezer after you squeeze it in whatever you want then boil it and preserve it. Trust me it deserve it
We actually have like a salted lemonade in Vietnam! Try it!!!! Just remember to use a LITTLE of the preserve lemons and a shit ton of sugar and it’s pretty good
JOSHUA, I just opened my first preserved lemon jar after 6 weeks. Never done it before. I cut up the peels and used them in pancakes. LEMONY AND SALTY, , AND amazing. Thank you....
In Vietnam we actually preserve the whole lemon, without crushing them down for the juice to make salty refreshing lemonade for summer. I wonder if I can use the flesh of your preserved lemon to do the same thing. Just basically add the preserved flesh, loads of sugar and water. Super hydrating for hot summer days. Thanks for the idea and I will try your recipe one day 😁
A couple of comments: you don’t need to use quite as much salt. A 5% brine is more than adequate and creates a brighter flavour. What is important is that e lemons are submerged, which can be done with a plate, a ziplock bag filled with water or a special fermentation vessel. And please don’t be afraid of mould, or what looks like mould - don’t automatically throw your ferment away. Most of the time any growth will be simply a yeast organism that is perfectly benign. Black and green growth, out it goes, but white is usually ok.
@LagiNaLangAko23 You really wana keep it at room temp to help stimulate the fermentation process. To prevent mold make sure you sterilize everything besides the produce, just wash that because you want the nature bacteria on it (why organic is a must), and to keep it submerged. If you put it in the fridge it'll take forever, but once it's done fermenting you can put in the fridge to make it last longer. Also the healthy "mold" looks white/yellow and sits at the top and is actually a naturally occurring yeast called kahm yeast.
You say that it is "usually" ok. How would the average person know that the white mold in their jar is okay or not? This is terrible advice. If you see mold, throw it away.
@@lf2334 If you're fermenting food in the first place, you will need to become familiar with bacteria and molds. If that's not something you feel comfortable doing, stay away from fermentation because it won't be fun. Most often, what people think is white mold, is actually yeast growing. There are tons of online resources available that explain the difference in some detail. Educate yourself, then make an informed decision.
@@lf2334 when you ferment food there are strict guidelines to keep that are quite easy to follow. Along with serilization, what Andreas Duess was saying the brine is also an important part of fermentation. When you make a brine at 5% salinity it doesn't kill everything but gives the lacto acid a greater chance to grow over bad bacteria/yeast, and once it has grown it will prevent bad bacteria/mold from growing, like a healthy immune system. So if you start off with the right brine and follow directions the only thing that might grow is kahm yeast, which you just skim off when you are ready to process/consume the product. Feel free to message for more questions.
Did somethng similar with limes. My local grocer had them as cheap as 1 euro per kilo because he ordered a big stock which customers didn't buy. Bought a kilo and peeled them because they were not so pretty looking. I put them in a jar with a big amount of salt, pretty much as you but also put whole black pepper, a cinammon stick, cardamum , chilli powder and turmeric powder. After a month of fermenting I put it in vegetable curries and adds a great acidic and aromatic kick to the dishes. I have found it works exceptionally well with homemade garlic mayo, too. I usually finish the garlic mayo with a teaspoon of my spicy fermented limes.
This is super cool!! Honestly I thought salty lemons were just a Vietnamese thing. We basically let lemons (sometimes we use kumquats) sit in like a salty solution for a long time. When we use it we take a lemon out and a few spoons of the jar juice to make a salty slightly sweet lemonade
Made some out of a book and they're fantastic and so easy. Had someone beg me for the recipe because he said it was the best thing on the Thanksgiving table (I recommend mincing then up and mixing them with the mashed potatoes). Never heard of removing the flesh though! We just de-seed it and chop it up regular.
my family’s from india, and this process of preserving lemon reminds me of my family recipe of dry lemon pickle (which lasted several months, if not longer)! it would be cool to see you do south indian mango pickle/lemon pickle, if that interests you! :)
This is perfect timing! Our neighbors gave us a batch of oranges but they taste like lemons, probably due to accidental cross pollination... this would be perfect for them!
I like Tagine Morrocan chicken. It’s low & slow cooking. Great for the lazy cook. My sister hipped me to making my own salted lemons. Fun DYI project. Thanks.
To my knowledge they should be called Morocco-Lemons. They are pungent to be sure, and the finished zest is highly flavourful. In the kitchen where we used them, we added maybe 5 to 8 brunoise to a saute-pan ment for 2 ppl. What we did was slightly different: Clean them well ofcourse. Might even scrub them with soap if you wash them with enough water afterwards. Then we cut them in half and juiced them. Then we pack the lemons and the jar to the brim with rock-salt (crude sea salt, whatever you want to call it). We then filled the space between the salt with the lemon-juice. Put them in warm water for a bit, and seal the jar. This makes sure there is a vacuum forming in the glass. Keep them at room temperature in a dark room (sunlight is a killer). 3 months seems to be a good estimate. Clean away everything but the zest, brunoise, and use it as a very strong spice, see above. Fantastic for fish, veal, and anything you would use Lemons on normally.
I used to work in a restaurant. The chef there did exactly that. He put some rosemary into the jar. Sliced the lemons stuffed them with rosemary and salt. But salt on the bottom of the jar and then stuffed the jar full of lemons. Topped it of with water tho. They need a few weeks but you get a nice condiment for cooking. He used a tiny amount of that in every dish.
Nice recipe Josh. I've tried it and it tasted great. I've used it with avocado toast for Christmas breakfast. If you call it a breakfast at 10 or 10:30 and a turkey salad for Christmas lunch
Well, for this kinda fermented lemon, you can simply serve it ( with lemon flesh) with 7-up, Sprite or whatever soda you like, squash the lemon and drink the mixture, it is amazing and I think the legit name of this soda is 咸柠七! Try it!
OMG my Hyderabadi Indian grandma has been making this for as long as I can remember!! we call it Dhoop Nimbu (Dhoop means sunlight and Nimbu means lemon). It needs to get at least an hour of sunlight every day for like a month.
I assume this is because the sunlight's UV rays kill the mold spores that you don't want growing, which is great, but the only downside of that is that UV rays also kill the lactobacillus acidophilis. That would explain why your prescribed method only uses sunlight for 1 hour a day, it keeps the mold from growing on the top and, if the ferment is going well, it shouldn't kill enough lactobacillus to matter. I like the method but I don't think it's entirely necessary. If you wanted to do that, but you can't leave it in the sun every day, you could use a UV bulb above the open jar to achieve a similar effect.
Josh, I eat a lime pickle and the limes are cut in half and you eat the whole half of the lime. It's amazing and addictive, munching on the lime half is very satisfying ! Is there any way of preserving a whole lemon/lime half and consuming the whole thing ? I wonder if the lemon or lime is salted, maybe washed? Then mixed with spices and aromats and preserved ? Would love to hear your feedback. Your channel is epic and I can't stop watching it. You're extremely inspiring as a human alone, thank you for your hard work :)
Been using this stuff for lemon cookies lately (instead of regular zest, and with a little extra sprinkled on top before going in the oven), and it's pretty awesome.
Never had preserved lemons and never saw them in any shop, it seams to be rather unpopular in central Europe. My question therefore what does a preserved lemon add taste wise in comparison to freshly grated or minced lemon cest?
Egyptian here, the jump imo is just like regular cucumber vs pickled cucumber Regular cucumber is good, but pickling brings out much more flavor and evens the acidity and juiciness out throughout the lemon as opposed to just the pulp. You eat the whole lemon btw Edit: and don't squeeze the juice out like the video, and don't use only lemon juice and salt as brine, you can add some seasonings like cumin
Great video! I've always wanted to make preserved lemons since they seem to coveted, expensive in stores, yet easy to make... but I never understood what the heck i should do with them. Thanks again for another fantastic video!
ShadowVipers in whole grain bread like rye would taste great w/ caraway seeds or fennel. If you’re a fan of combo like white flour+spelt+rye w/ sourdough, anything go well w/ those like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & sesame or add cooked rice/oat/buckwheat/quinoa/millet also awesome. The limit is endless. I hope that helps. Just play around w/ flavors you love. I personally love sourdough spelt+white w/ salted walnuts & cranberries. Try using that for your leftovers sandwiches. So good.
ShadowVipers if u look up sourdough recipes, it’d be under tartine porridge bread. You cook it like you were to eat it as side dish or main dish if you’re asian like me. The gluten free grain will act as added food for the yeast during fermentation and renders the bread crumb softer.
ShadowVipers I think it is going to vary pretty greatly depending on the person. A lot of things with seeds and grains go well together so therefore you can’t really go wrong. I really like whole wheat and walnuts, or spelt and whole wheat. Another good one is sesame seeds and semolina. Those are some of my faves.
Love your channel. I was a pastry chef at a hotel and used preserved lemon in a couple of desserts. The best of which was a strawberry shortcake with preserved lemon curd. Perfect balance on sweet, salty, bitter and sour and even a little umami in there too.
@@justthinking526 I apologize for the very long delay in responding but it got lost in my spam folder. I just used a regular lemon curd recipe but added an amount of preserved lemons that I had puréed until it tasted just the way I wanted it to. I puréed them with regular lemon juice and added perhaps a tablespoon to a 2 cup amount of curd. Just play around with the amount until you find what is right for you.
Hi Joshua, Awesome channel you have. I enjoyed watching how to make real tonkotsu ramen. I would like to know what camera and video editing you are using. thank you
I just bought a whole bag of lemons today and I’m going to try this recipe again. Last time the lemons on top weren’t completely submerged and got moldy.
@@aen9321 with this large a jar, I would 3/4 fill a quart or half gallon heavy duty zip lock with water and place this on top of the fruit. If you are plastic-phobic, glass weights are made for fermenting sauerkraut or a jar within a jar works too.
I did this and let them go for FIVE years, obviously check them for irregular microbe growth. They were sooooooo incredibly delicious! The skin, the juice, pulp, I even wanted to try the seeds. I did not as they contain cyanide and have no way of knowing if it broke down.
I'm the other kind of Asian & I've absolutely never heard of this. I don't have a taste for sour things. It hurt the sides of my mouth just watching this.
love preserved lemons, and the fact that as I am digging through your list the first three videos are stuff Iv done and love. Though with this one I have to say, I hate meyer lemons, not acid enough for my taste. I prefer normal lemons. Subscribed, great videos.
This just reminded me that I have 2 preserved lemons in my fridge from about 2 years ago. I hope they're still good because they were so awesome in stews!
I'm from Sri Lanka and we make a thing called lime pickle. Its Similar, but you shouldn't smash them and should use rock salt and leave it in a clay pot
I've been doing this to put up the lemons on our tree (not meyer, but it's whatever :P )but this year, I gave up trying to keep my quarters attached, since I never fail to break them when smashing them down anyways. It really helps to get it done faster when you have a dozen or so quarts to do. They're still just as pretty in the jar since they've been throttled anyways :)
You don't need to add salt in the jar, the one on lemons is totally enough. You just need to have your fruits covered with acid solution to preserve them, and lemon are acidic enough. Moreover, less salt = you can use everything in the jar, even the juice
Josh, i’m curious as to what would you do w/ the juices/brine. I kinda live a low waste lifesyle so i wanna know what to do w/ the brine. I make my own pickles, kimchi & sauerkraut. I use the brine if those ferments for marinating meat/fish or even use it to cook tofu & tempeh. As for kimchi brine, lots of korean recipes calls for it to add flavor to soups/stews. I’d appreciate if you respond. Thank you
Sooooo my friends who are Vietnamese Chinese once made us a jar of salted lemons. It was basically the same thing you did. Except a ton more salt. And they didn’t cut the lemons. The salted lemons were to be used as a cure for sore throats. The salt probably kills a lot of the germs. The squishy, now blackened, lemon was to be put into a large glass and topped off with water. The affected person is to sip the salty liquid. You can reuse that lemon for the duration of the sickness. And if you’d like- cut off a small portion to eat/suck on like a salty lozenge. Let me know if you’ve heard about this method.
I'm half morrocan and my family has been doing this for years! I absolutely love it!
Pro tip: (which I'm probably going to regret because a magician never reveals their secrets) use a preserved lemon in hummus instead of (or along with) lemon juice. Just blend it up with the rest of the hummus ingredients and will change your hummus world
Yay! Thank you for this!
Too bad i cant eat hummus, cuz i just dont like the taste at all lol
Shira Ziv blend the preserved lemon into the hummus with the peel and all?
@@b0x1n9f4n I think the preserved lemon is all about the PEEL....
Linda Arceneaux specifically use the peel and not the meat. 👌 thank you.
I opened my cabinet this morning and Joshua Weissman popped out and gave me a recipe and encouragement.
Ather Ahmed It’s what I do. ;)
@@JoshuaWeissman Iright before I read this, my fun brain had ZFrank say " that's just what a Josh Weissman do"
Crush a bit with water and sugar/honey and you got something that taste like pink lemonade or lemon flavored gatorade. Traditional Vietnamese drink.
Peter Le This is the most delicious drink I have ever tried. I’m so hooked now and waiting for my lemons to ripen. Also I will go back to the wonderful Vietnamese restaurant where I tried it.
This sounds delicious. I can't wait to try. Thank you very much for sharing :)
but guys im just saying we use limes , idk if its gonna make a difference tho
@Ralph imagine having cheese in every meal
@Ralph offensive. What makes you say that?
I would like to be let out of the cupboard now Josh.
Oh so now all the sudden you guys don't like the cupboard anymore?? :P
@@JoshuaWeissman The cupboard is alright, but the bean dip is _annoying_
im not in the cubbard, its actually a closet
Giulia Pugliese no, you're not done fermenting
Giulia Pugliese it puts the lotion on the skin or it gets the hose again
I'm vietnamese and my mom does this with limes. She uses a little of this as a cool tea in the summer. It naturally has a sweetness and slightly salty flavor.
That sounds delightful. Thanks for sharing!
I make preserved lemons too. I do add a bit of clove, pepper corn and coriander seeds to the mix, while fermenting. We use just about a teaspoon of the juice in tequila, soda and ice. We call it a Long Shot, sooo good.
So here I am in Casablanca Morocco, eating these lemons right now! No, not in a dish, just by themselves! They are too good to share with an actual recipe sometimes! 😋❤️
وايييه مقود
Hello Joshua: Great video on technique. Bear in mind, that it's crucial to use non-iodized salt (Kosher, Sea, or Pickling). At best, iodized salt will slow the fermentation; at worst, it won't occur. Be sure to check sea salt because some of it is iodized.
Thanks again for a great video.
I have a jar of these in my cabinet :) I was initially only using them for my Moroccan dishes when I miss home but it's nice to see I can use them for other dishes as well! I will add it to my guacamole today :D Thanks for the tip! Pro tip from a Moroccan: you can also just put a layer of olive oil on top and it will create a seal. You can then keep them in a cabinet. This will also add more flavor ;)
I loved this style of Joshes videos. I understand current format gets more views but this Old content was pure Gold for all of us - cooking nerda
lmao
me: you know when life gives you lemon just make lemona...
Joshua Weissman
: cured, lacto fermented, preserved lemons?
me:...............
baon kang this is very accurate
Better than making combustable lemons to burn Life's house down.
Lemonade contains more sugar than lemon juice, so the "when life gives you lemons make lemonade" thing is absolute bullsh*t LOL🤣🤣🤣
My indian mother in law do this with lime. But different process because we put the jar under the sun during the day, and not all the limes submerge on its juice. And it took about 3-4 months. The preserved lime is wilted, dark brown colour, and almost dry. We usually make it as pickle, mix with onion and chilli and a little bit coconut milk, then eat with mutton biryani n rice. The taste is tart, salty, very complimentary with the biryani. It's...to die for. Gosh, i'm salivating now 😣
What the hell is the youtube algo doing that I keep finding all these good new creators!?! I like it, seriously enjoying your cinematography and technique.
Never heard of this. My wife is a trained chef and we make our own stocks and other preserved foods. This will be a game changer! THANK YOU SO MUCH.
You can also strain the lemon juice & salt liquid - once you've used up the lemons - and use it sparingly for salad dressings and marinades. Yum!
they’re amazing in cutting through any fatty greasy dish and should definitely be more well known!
Ayyy! I've never imagined that after countless hours of watching you cook, you present the rest of the world with an essential Moroccan condiment! I reached Nirvana! Thank You!
grow up weirdo bthndrehnfhhrdghg
Cool prank: save the salty lemon water, tell people it’s lemonade, watch them lose their trust for you
its actually pretty good, people mix it with 7up or sprite
Jokes on me, they lost it years ago
Might not be exactly the same but you can make lemonade too. Check out th-cam.com/video/QpyHrQYeoIE/w-d-xo.html around the 2:30 mark.
salty lemonade is actually a really popular summer drink in some countries
Did someone say chiltons?
I have lemons that's preserved in salt for 10 years called "Black Lemon" and they are so good making them to black lemonade. You can also make black lemon chicken soup of them.
Not heard of this. Thanks.
my family has done this every year for many many years. We keep it out in the sun to avoid mold. 10-15 lemons lasts us about a whole year. I love it so much I have it with almost every meal
I have a beautiful Meyer lemon tree/bush and it keeps producing sweet aromatic lemons. I'm going to give this a try, thx. Arizona is loaded with Meyer lemon trees in damn near every yard.
BlackTalon 1 Will they grow up in Kingman? We’re moving there at the end of the year.
Lucky you!
I do a similar thing with the Japanese plums growing in my area. It turns them into a totally edible treat called Umeboshi. Due to the high salt content i limit myself to 3-4 Omeboshi a day. But instead of mashing the fruit down i place them all in a pot, sea salt added alternating with plums using 1/5 weight ratio(1 kg. salt for 5 kg. plums). then i place a plate over them and add some weight's to press down for a few weeks. Was able to eat them throughout the year without refrigeration.
I LOVE umboshi plums!!
They are so hard to find here without preservatives or coloring.
The brine is amazing. I think it's essentially the lemon analog to soy sauce. It's got tons of great flavor but a little bit goes a long, long way.
in India lemon pickle is made this way, ofcourse chilli powder and other spices are added later for taste. A tip don't use iodized salt instead use raw sea salt unprocessed or rock salt.
I've had these fermenting for the last month, and just pulled them out last night. Tossed them in the rice cooker with some rice and ground beef then, and added them to some tacos this morning. Both were fantastic. They're almost good enough to eat by themselves (just too slimy for my tastes to eat that way).
I'm from Spain, a jet ski ride away from Morocco, and i swear i've never heard of preserved salted lemons. Here we make confit and candy out of them and white sugar. And if you have a yard of land, you plant lemon, orange and tangerine trees, and weather does the rest so that you can enjoy them fresh from the tree almost the whole year through. I cannot recall me buying lemons in a supermarket and i am almost 40. By the way, i love so much your chanel. I first knew you searching for an avocado toast recipe and i fell deeply in love with the Croissant Issue. I'll try them this winter. Keep up the great job.
I'm Moroccan and I can assure you THEY ARE one of the essential condiments in the Moroccan cuisine. I'm guessing you mainly visit the north of Morocco (that would be Tangier Tetouan, etc...) and I'm not sure if preserved lemons are widely used up there, but they are in the rest of the cities and you can actually see them in piles alongside olives in Moroccan souks. they pair well with fish and chicken.
This is easily my favorite fermented food. I just want to note that if you actually take the time to measure out 10% salt by weight you never need to refrigerate them, and they keep for years.
Thank you for the 10% guide line, I like salt but I don't wanna overdo it, I'll try your recommendation.
@@Romulux I guess you found this out by now, but 10% salt in anything is salty af.
I chopped mixed garden herbs and put 10% salt by weight and did the same separately with fresh dill. Put it in the jars and in the cellar. Then in the winter, when there was no fresh greens unless you sprout seeds I brought one jar of each and let me tell you, if you use so preserved herbs, you need no other salt in the dish. And I usually love salty taste. 😅
A Cantonese drink recipe involving preserved lemon: one whole preserved lemon, ice cubes, and 7up. As popular as milk tea I’d say and 10 times easier to make
The whole lemon that's been preserved in salt is fine? Doesn't make it salty?
@@misss5988 I tried it when I was in Hong Kong. It does make it salty, but it's quite good
Soda is actually very acidic, salt can counteract the taste of sourness as it prevents the sour tastebuds from perceiving sour flavours accentuating sweet flavours. Preserving the lemon in salt also counteracts the bitter rind's flavor, my mom who is Vietnamese uses it as a cold remedy, you eat it whole with honey sucking on the juices and gargling it. It works but I personally don't like it to her extent.
Is it just put in a glass together? No extra cutting, chrushing or blending?
pls collab with brad from its alive
J Sal omg YESS! I’d love to see them together
That's all I would ever need in life
And claire
That would be a massive duet
I would love that so so much
Thank you so much! I've had mine in the fridge since February 2020 and used my last piece for Moroccan chicken last night. So perfectly preserved for 3 years! About to make mere...obsessed :))) Thanks again
When life gives you lemons, preserve them!
On a less silly note: The idea of preserved lemons is new to me. Thanks! Need to try this with lime too.
In Vietnam we wait for them to preserve for half a year and more. My mom friend have a jar that preserved for 10 plus years. We use them to make salty lemonade as a sore throat remedy and it is also good for the flu. We also limes instead of lemons.
Thank you for this awesome recipe.
Made a glas of it, me and my roomates love it so much, had to buy another insane amount of lemons and make a solid supply.
Went a little bit crazy and used the same technique with some blood oranges.
Did the bloodorange turned out well? I'm interested if it works for citrus fruits in general
@@jacomokrause8576 As far as I remember it wasn't bad, but not also not so good as I expected it.
It didn't work with the usual north african dishes, like tajine or couscous, but blended with chinese five spices it was really nice to use for asian style marinades for porn, duck or chicken.
@@jakobrenftle7621 alright thank you very much 🙏
I have 2 lemon trees and they have quite a few lemons still on them so, I made this today. I hope it comes out good.
I use to make these at my restaurant because we had cases of lemons. It makes the most ethereal egg salad and really highlights the ingredient. I feel they get lost otherwise in more complex dishes.
Hey coming in a bit late though I saw this video nearly over an year ago. In India we have a similar pickle while whole Lemon and salt, kept away for almost a "DECADE OR TWO" (understand many will freak out). They become medicinal as aperitifs. We call them Black lemon pille or grand granny pickle
if ya want- adding olive oil also works great, plus at the end of it you get a really good lemon infused olive oil that I love putting on salads
*Don't put in the fridge! Use kosher salt, and cover the last 1/4 to 1/2" with olive oil to stop air from getting in. This will also add to the flavor.
This is how my family stores them :)! I have a jar in my cabinet now!
What is the effect of using kosher salt? The olive oil layer is an amazing idea, I'm going to use that with other ferments.
@@j3ffn4v4rr0 kosher salt just has bigger flakes - should make zero difference in a recipe where the salt dissolves anyways - right?
@@clemensmartin1034 yup, that was my thinking...plus we're not measuring here, which is different between kosher/regular. I started this last night, and did use kosher salt (but almost tried pink Himalayan sea salt, would like to try that next)....and am doing the olive oil layer. I'll definitely update in the comments my results.
@@j3ffn4v4rr0 results?
This is one of the most simple traditional pickle at our place. Either you can cut lemons into half/quarter and throw salt over them or just wash and dry the lemons and cover them with salt. Either way it works. Putting the jar under the sun makes the process faster. Within a month the lemons become soft and ready to be eaten. It is known to increase apetite, more so if you add some green chillies and grated ginger.👍🙏
Is it important to squish them into a brine so they are submerged in liquid?
@@iamthatiam7523 not at all. Just make a layer of salt, then a layer of lemon and repeat the process till the jar is full. Top it up with a layer of salt at the end. Keep it under the sun on the same day so that process is started soon. After few days, juices start flowing out of the lemon. Shake the bottle so that lemon and salt are uniformly distributed. After a month or 45 days your lemon pickle is ready to eat. You can add radish, carrot, ginger, chilli along with lime. A little spice such as turmeric etc may be used to give it a nice colour and flavour.
@@Dave_en thank you for your guidance on this process. Much appreciated!
Josh, just wanted to say I love your videos. You do an amazing job for those of us that are above a starting chef, but not yet able to follow a recipe after watching once. I LOVE how you are specific about measurements, when to care vs. when to not, and how you assure us we can do it! You rock, dude.
Is a future episode going to focus on including these in a recipe?
I made a whole jar of them 4 months ago, I still have about 3/4 of the jar because I'm not sure what to use them for, except for occasional salads.
There's tons of recipes where it's paired with baked and broiled chicken! Super good with chicken, spinach, salads, olive oil, sandwiches, etc
make them whole instead of sliced and you can make vietnamese lemonade!
I'm looking into doing a recipe with these used in it. Still deciding on what and when. :)
Moroccan food/ chicken you can easily find recipes that use this
North African here (egyptian), I was thinking it's just lemon and salt, but it's super delicious. We make it with the small lemons and preserve it whole, also we collect lemon skins in freezer after you squeeze it in whatever you want then boil it and preserve it.
Trust me it deserve it
We actually have like a salted lemonade in Vietnam! Try it!!!! Just remember to use a LITTLE of the preserve lemons and a shit ton of sugar and it’s pretty good
JOSHUA, I just opened my first preserved lemon jar after 6 weeks. Never done it before. I cut up the peels and used them in pancakes. LEMONY AND SALTY, , AND amazing. Thank you....
I'm lucky enough to have grown up with a meyer lemon tree in my backyard. My mother has always made preserved lemon peel with them and it's fantastic.
In Vietnam we actually preserve the whole lemon, without crushing them down for the juice to make salty refreshing lemonade for summer. I wonder if I can use the flesh of your preserved lemon to do the same thing. Just basically add the preserved flesh, loads of sugar and water. Super hydrating for hot summer days. Thanks for the idea and I will try your recipe one day 😁
A couple of comments: you don’t need to use quite as much salt. A 5% brine is more than adequate and creates a brighter flavour. What is important is that e lemons are submerged, which can be done with a plate, a ziplock bag filled with water or a special fermentation vessel. And please don’t be afraid of mould, or what looks like mould - don’t automatically throw your ferment away. Most of the time any growth will be simply a yeast organism that is perfectly benign. Black and green growth, out it goes, but white is usually ok.
@LagiNaLangAko23 You really wana keep it at room temp to help stimulate the fermentation process. To prevent mold make sure you sterilize everything besides the produce, just wash that because you want the nature bacteria on it (why organic is a must), and to keep it submerged. If you put it in the fridge it'll take forever, but once it's done fermenting you can put in the fridge to make it last longer.
Also the healthy "mold" looks white/yellow and sits at the top and is actually a naturally occurring yeast called kahm yeast.
Pickling weights. Because of course they would make specialized kitchen equipment for this.
You say that it is "usually" ok. How would the average person know that the white mold in their jar is okay or not? This is terrible advice. If you see mold, throw it away.
@@lf2334 If you're fermenting food in the first place, you will need to become familiar with bacteria and molds. If that's not something you feel comfortable doing, stay away from fermentation because it won't be fun. Most often, what people think is white mold, is actually yeast growing. There are tons of online resources available that explain the difference in some detail. Educate yourself, then make an informed decision.
@@lf2334 when you ferment food there are strict guidelines to keep that are quite easy to follow. Along with serilization, what Andreas Duess was saying the brine is also an important part of fermentation. When you make a brine at 5% salinity it doesn't kill everything but gives the lacto acid a greater chance to grow over bad bacteria/yeast, and once it has grown it will prevent bad bacteria/mold from growing, like a healthy immune system. So if you start off with the right brine and follow directions the only thing that might grow is kahm yeast, which you just skim off when you are ready to process/consume the product. Feel free to message for more questions.
Did somethng similar with limes. My local grocer had them as cheap as 1 euro per kilo because he ordered a big stock which customers didn't buy. Bought a kilo and peeled them because they were not so pretty looking. I put them in a jar with a big amount of salt, pretty much as you but also put whole black pepper, a cinammon stick, cardamum , chilli powder and turmeric powder. After a month of fermenting I put it in vegetable curries and adds a great acidic and aromatic kick to the dishes. I have found it works exceptionally well with homemade garlic mayo, too. I usually finish the garlic mayo with a teaspoon of my spicy fermented limes.
This is super cool!! Honestly I thought salty lemons were just a Vietnamese thing. We basically let lemons (sometimes we use kumquats) sit in like a salty solution for a long time. When we use it we take a lemon out and a few spoons of the jar juice to make a salty slightly sweet lemonade
Made some out of a book and they're fantastic and so easy. Had someone beg me for the recipe because he said it was the best thing on the Thanksgiving table (I recommend mincing then up and mixing them with the mashed potatoes).
Never heard of removing the flesh though! We just de-seed it and chop it up regular.
my family’s from india, and this process of preserving lemon reminds me of my family recipe of dry lemon pickle (which lasted several months, if not longer)! it would be cool to see you do south indian mango pickle/lemon pickle, if that interests you! :)
This is perfect timing! Our neighbors gave us a batch of oranges but they taste like lemons, probably due to accidental cross pollination... this would be perfect for them!
I dont know why this was reccomended, but you're a snack and I enjoy cooking so I'm subbed.
That's kind of gay
@@Samdroid_ alright now anime pfp
@@mellohi2899 1-it's not an anime
2-emoji pfp
I like Tagine Morrocan chicken. It’s low & slow cooking. Great for the lazy cook. My sister hipped me to making my own salted lemons. Fun DYI project. Thanks.
To my knowledge they should be called Morocco-Lemons. They are pungent to be sure, and the finished zest is highly flavourful. In the kitchen where we used them, we added maybe 5 to 8 brunoise to a saute-pan ment for 2 ppl.
What we did was slightly different: Clean them well ofcourse. Might even scrub them with soap if you wash them with enough water afterwards. Then we cut them in half and juiced them. Then we pack the lemons and the jar to the brim with rock-salt (crude sea salt, whatever you want to call it). We then filled the space between the salt with the lemon-juice. Put them in warm water for a bit, and seal the jar. This makes sure there is a vacuum forming in the glass. Keep them at room temperature in a dark room (sunlight is a killer). 3 months seems to be a good estimate. Clean away everything but the zest, brunoise, and use it as a very strong spice, see above.
Fantastic for fish, veal, and anything you would use Lemons on normally.
I used to work in a restaurant. The chef there did exactly that. He put some rosemary into the jar. Sliced the lemons stuffed them with rosemary and salt. But salt on the bottom of the jar and then stuffed the jar full of lemons. Topped it of with water tho. They need a few weeks but you get a nice condiment for cooking. He used a tiny amount of that in every dish.
tip: add few spoons of oil to seal the fermented lemon and prevent MOLD from forming.
Nope, no oil ever. Preserved lemons don’t mold in the first place- THEY’VE BEEN PRESERVED.🤦♂️🤦♂️🙄
Nice recipe Josh. I've tried it and it tasted great. I've used it with avocado toast for Christmas breakfast. If you call it a breakfast at 10 or 10:30 and a turkey salad for Christmas lunch
You should do a series where you make food from different countries and such btw you are slowly but surely becoming my favorite TH-camr
Chris I think that’s a great idea, and thank you!
Watched your video for the first time today, and you are awesome. You make the video fun and educational. Will be trying the lemons in 3 weeks.
Well, for this kinda fermented lemon, you can simply serve it ( with lemon flesh) with 7-up, Sprite or whatever soda you like, squash the lemon and drink the mixture, it is amazing and I think the legit name of this soda is 咸柠七! Try it!
My mum makes this every Autumn absolutely love it, to see Josh recreate it is pretty mind-blowing
OMG my Hyderabadi Indian grandma has been making this for as long as I can remember!! we call it Dhoop Nimbu (Dhoop means sunlight and Nimbu means lemon). It needs to get at least an hour of sunlight every day for like a month.
I assume this is because the sunlight's UV rays kill the mold spores that you don't want growing, which is great, but the only downside of that is that UV rays also kill the lactobacillus acidophilis. That would explain why your prescribed method only uses sunlight for 1 hour a day, it keeps the mold from growing on the top and, if the ferment is going well, it shouldn't kill enough lactobacillus to matter. I like the method but I don't think it's entirely necessary. If you wanted to do that, but you can't leave it in the sun every day, you could use a UV bulb above the open jar to achieve a similar effect.
in Cambodian cuisine we use preserve lemons for soup, >.< I never knew that you can use this for salsa; your channel is so interesting
Joshua deserved more subs for his creative and diverse recipes!!
Josh, I eat a lime pickle and the limes are cut in half and you eat the whole half of the lime. It's amazing and addictive, munching on the lime half is very satisfying ! Is there any way of preserving a whole lemon/lime half and consuming the whole thing ? I wonder if the lemon or lime is salted, maybe washed? Then mixed with spices and aromats and preserved ? Would love to hear your feedback. Your channel is epic and I can't stop watching it. You're extremely inspiring as a human alone, thank you for your hard work :)
I would love to see you do a video covering traditional Challah bread. It's my absolute fave and I'm sure your B Roll would be fantastic!
FYI you can use the juice in the place of regular salt in recipes to add a bright note.
Been using this stuff for lemon cookies lately (instead of regular zest, and with a little extra sprinkled on top before going in the oven), and it's pretty awesome.
There are many southern Chinese recipes that uses preserved lemon with a duck or chicken dish. Very delicious.
Never had preserved lemons and never saw them in any shop, it seams to be rather unpopular in central Europe. My question therefore what does a preserved lemon add taste wise in comparison to freshly grated or minced lemon cest?
The lemon flavor is less acidic but more intensely lemon. It's good w chicken and fish
I agree with the reply above. It also has that classic vibrant lacto fermented flavor which I quite like.
@@davidbiron4186 that sounds amazing! Should try it with some grilled cod sometime :)
Egyptian here, the jump imo is just like regular cucumber vs pickled cucumber
Regular cucumber is good, but pickling brings out much more flavor and evens the acidity and juiciness out throughout the lemon as opposed to just the pulp.
You eat the whole lemon btw
Edit: and don't squeeze the juice out like the video, and don't use only lemon juice and salt as brine, you can add some seasonings like cumin
@@008abdullah it's different recipe then..
you're saying as if his way is wrong and bad...
Great video! I've always wanted to make preserved lemons since they seem to coveted, expensive in stores, yet easy to make... but I never understood what the heck i should do with them. Thanks again for another fantastic video!
those lemons are so orange!!
Because they're Meyer Lemons. Meyer Lemons are a cross between an orange and a lemon.
Was anyone else's mouth salivating the whole time from all of the lemon talk?
You are my new favorite chef/teacher.
Thank you
That right here is what I trulyyyy needed! When I buy it from the store, I usually add two cloves of garlic as well :)
Sweet and salty!
Just as a side question, what seeds/grains would you say compliment eachother in a multi-wholegrain bread recipe?
ShadowVipers in whole grain bread like rye would taste great w/ caraway seeds or fennel. If you’re a fan of combo like white flour+spelt+rye w/ sourdough, anything go well w/ those like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & sesame or add cooked rice/oat/buckwheat/quinoa/millet also awesome. The limit is endless. I hope that helps. Just play around w/ flavors you love. I personally love sourdough spelt+white w/ salted walnuts & cranberries. Try using that for your leftovers sandwiches. So good.
@@ima7333 When you mean cooked does that mean like roasted? or like cooked in water (for the rice, oat, and quinoa)?
ShadowVipers if u look up sourdough recipes, it’d be under tartine porridge bread. You cook it like you were to eat it as side dish or main dish if you’re asian like me. The gluten free grain will act as added food for the yeast during fermentation and renders the bread crumb softer.
ShadowVipers I think it is going to vary pretty greatly depending on the person. A lot of things with seeds and grains go well together so therefore you can’t really go wrong. I really like whole wheat and walnuts, or spelt and whole wheat. Another good one is sesame seeds and semolina. Those are some of my faves.
Love your channel. I was a pastry chef at a hotel and used preserved lemon in a couple of desserts. The best of which was a strawberry shortcake with preserved lemon curd. Perfect balance on sweet, salty, bitter and sour and even a little umami in there too.
Do you remember your recipe for the preserved curd? Yum!!
@@justthinking526 I apologize for the very long delay in responding but it got lost in my spam folder. I just used a regular lemon curd recipe but added an amount of preserved lemons that I had puréed until it tasted just the way I wanted it to. I puréed them with regular lemon juice and added perhaps a tablespoon to a 2 cup amount of curd. Just play around with the amount until you find what is right for you.
Hi Joshua, Awesome channel you have. I enjoyed watching how to make real tonkotsu ramen. I would like to know what camera and video editing you are using. thank you
I just bought a whole bag of lemons today and I’m going to try this recipe again. Last time the lemons on top weren’t completely submerged and got moldy.
Protip, the pulp that floats will mold pretty qick. Just skim it off, make sure the mother-in-law or other guests arent watching.
Or weight the fruit to to keep everything under the brine...
@Bear U What should you weight it with?
@@aen9321 with this large a jar, I would 3/4 fill a quart or half gallon heavy duty zip lock with water and place this on top of the fruit. If you are plastic-phobic, glass weights are made for fermenting sauerkraut or a jar within a jar works too.
@@Bear-cm1vl good tip!
@@natedagreat95 that's what she said
I did this and let them go for FIVE years, obviously check them for irregular microbe growth. They were sooooooo incredibly delicious! The skin, the juice, pulp, I even wanted to try the seeds. I did not as they contain cyanide and have no way of knowing if it broke down.
Usually you go into detail on how it tastes and whst does the fermentation do to the flavour.
Why not here?
We've made this at home since I was little! We call it nimboo achaar in Punjabi (meaning lemon preserves).
Y'all need to put these into Vietnamese salted lemon sodas.
Ayyyyyyyyy random Vietnamese hereeeee, yeah I agree lol
soda chanh muoi for the win!!
I'm the other kind of Asian & I've absolutely never heard of this. I don't have a taste for sour things. It hurt the sides of my mouth just watching this.
love preserved lemons, and the fact that as I am digging through your list the first three videos are stuff Iv done and love. Though with this one I have to say, I hate meyer lemons, not acid enough for my taste. I prefer normal lemons. Subscribed, great videos.
Is it important to keep it out of direct light, or light in general, while fermenting?
Just came to say I make my own preserved lemons. Amazing taste
I've never heard of preserved lemons or about dishes that you mentioned that use them. Sooo... yeah, cool.
You definitely have to try Moroccan cuisine..
It's a well-known thing in Greek, Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese cuisines
Love the videos about fermented drinks and food! Could you make a video on how to make apple cider vinegar?
When fermentation is done, can you just remove all the flesh at once and just keep the peels in the jar?
That’s the only way I’ve seen them sold so I imagine yes but there’s more opportunities for contamination.
This just reminded me that I have 2 preserved lemons in my fridge from about 2 years ago. I hope they're still good because they were so awesome in stews!
I'm from Sri Lanka and we make a thing called lime pickle. Its Similar, but you shouldn't smash them and should use rock salt and leave it in a clay pot
I've been doing this to put up the lemons on our tree (not meyer, but it's whatever :P )but this year, I gave up trying to keep my quarters attached, since I never fail to break them when smashing them down anyways. It really helps to get it done faster when you have a dozen or so quarts to do. They're still just as pretty in the jar since they've been throttled anyways :)
You don't need to add salt in the jar, the one on lemons is totally enough. You just need to have your fruits covered with acid solution to preserve them, and lemon are acidic enough. Moreover, less salt = you can use everything in the jar, even the juice
Can you use any salt. Thanks I'm going to do that just juice 😊
Mouthwatering. Made me want to experiment with limes and oranges
he should've said, "when life gives you lemons, you make b-roll.".
Nice recipe. A client just told me about doing this and here you are. Thanks,
MaryAiñe
Josh, i’m curious as to what would you do w/ the juices/brine. I kinda live a low waste lifesyle so i wanna know what to do w/ the brine. I make my own pickles, kimchi & sauerkraut. I use the brine if those ferments for marinating meat/fish or even use it to cook tofu & tempeh. As for kimchi brine, lots of korean recipes calls for it to add flavor to soups/stews. I’d appreciate if you respond. Thank you
Ima Purnomo i would think it would be good for making carne asada or something of that sort
Could you use it for a dirty martini instead of olive brine?
Sooooo my friends who are Vietnamese Chinese once made us a jar of salted lemons. It was basically the same thing you did. Except a ton more salt. And they didn’t cut the lemons. The salted lemons were to be used as a cure for sore throats. The salt probably kills a lot of the germs. The squishy, now blackened, lemon was to be put into a large glass and topped off with water. The affected person is to sip the salty liquid. You can reuse that lemon for the duration of the sickness. And if you’d like- cut off a small portion to eat/suck on like a salty lozenge. Let me know if you’ve heard about this method.