kaffir lime

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

Citrus x hystrix
Citrus hystrix on sale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Sapindales Family: Rutaceae Genus: Citrus Species: C. x
Binomial name
Citrus x hystrix L.

The kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC., Rutaceae), also known as kieffer lime and limau purut is a type of lime native to Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, and widely grown worldwide as a backyard shrub.

The kaffir lime is a rough, warty green fruit that grows on very thorny bush with aromatic and distinctively shaped "double" leaves. It is well suited to container growing. The green lime fruit is distinguished by its bumpy exterior and its small size (approx. 4 cm wide).

Naming

Other names for Citrus x hystrix:

• Burma: shauk-nu, shauk-waing
• Cambodia: krauch soeuch
• China: (檸檬葉) ning meng ye (Mandarin), faan-fung-kam (Cantonese), Thài-kok-kam (Hokkien/Min Nan)
• India: kolumichai ('கொலுமிச்சை' in Tamil)
• Indonesia: jeruk purut, jeruk limo, jeruk sambal
• Laos: makgeehoot
• Malaysia: limau purut
• Philippines: Kubot, Kabuyaw, per-res (Sagada)
• Reunion Island: combava
• Sri Lanka: kahpiri dehi, odu dehi, kudala-dehi
• Thailand: makrud (มะกรูด), som makrud

The word Kaffir have may come from German Käfer, meaning bug. The leaves of the Kaffir Lime do bear a slight resemblance to an insect, especially the leaf insects native to Southeast Asia, with which they may have co-evolved.

The Oxford Companion to Food (ISBN 0-19-211579-0) recommends avoiding the name kaffir lime and instead using makrud lime because kaffir is offensive in some cultures. (For this reason, some South Africans refer to the fruit as K-lime.) However, kaffir lime appears to be much more common.

Uses

Citrus hystrix fruit (left), used in Southeast asian cooking, with galangal root.

Kaffir lime leaves are also a popular ingredient in South East Asian cooking, such as Indonesian, Lao and Thai.

The rind of the kaffir lime is commonly used in Lao and Thai curry paste, adding an aromatic, astringent flavor. Its hourglass-shaped leaves (comprising the leaf blade plus a flattened, leaf-like leaf-stalk or petiole) are also widely used in Thai and Lao cuisine (for dishes such as tom yum), and Cambodian cuisine (for the base paste known as "Krueng"). The leaves are also popular in Indonesian cuisine (especially Balinese and Javanese), for foods such as sayur asam - literally sour vegetables, and are also used along with Indonesian bay leaf for chicken and fish. They are also found in Malaysian and Burmese cuisines.

The leaves can be used fresh or dried, and can be stored frozen.

The juice and rinds of the kaffir lime are used in traditional Indonesian medicine; for this reason the fruit is sometimes referred to in Indonesia as jeruk obat - literally "medicine citrus". The oil from the rind also has strong insecticidal properties. The juice is generally regarded as too acidic to use in food preparation, but finds use as a cleanser for clothing and hair, mainly in Thailand.

The zest of the fruit is widely used in creole cuisine and to impart flavor to "arranged" rums in the Réunion island and Madagascar.

In Popular Culture

• In the 2007 motion picture No Reservations, Catherine Zeta-Jones' character (Kate, a chef) uses kaffir lime leaves as the secret ingredient in her saffron sauce recipe.
• Smirnoff makes a ready-to-drink mojito flavored with Kaffir lime.
• MolsonCoors produces Blue Moon Rising Moon beer, flavored with kaffir lime leaves.
• Hangar One produces a Kaffir Lime infused artisanal vodka in Alameda, California.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Citrus hystrix