kaffir lime
American Heritage Dictionary:
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kaffir lime
n.
An Asian tree (Citrus hystrix) having small bright green fruit and shiny dark leaves used in cooking.
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Grown in Southeast Asia and Hawaii, the kaffir lime tree produces small, pear-shaped citrus fruit with a skin that's bright yellow-green, bumpy and wrinkled. The glossy, dark green kaffir lime leaves, which are used in cooking, have a unique double shape and look like two leaves that are joined end to end. Dried kaffir lime rind and leaves, which have a mysterious flora-citrus aroma, can be found in Asian markets. Fresh leaves, which have a more intense, fragrant aroma, are sometimes also available.
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Kaffir lime
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| Citrus × hystrix' | |
|---|---|
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| Citrus hystrix on sale | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Citrus |
| Species: | C. hystrix |
| Binomial name | |
| Citrus × hystrix' DC. [1] |
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| Synonyms | |
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Citrus torosa Blanco |
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The kaffir lime (Citrus × hystrix, Rutaceae) is also known as combava, kieffer lime, limau purut,[2] jeruk purut or makrut lime, Kabuyao (Cabuyao).[1] It is a lime native to Indochinese and Malesian ecoregions in India, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and adjacent countries. It is used in Southeast Asian cuisine.
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Description
Citrus × hystrix is a thorny bush with aromatic and distinctively shaped "double" leaves. The kaffir lime is a rough, bumpy green fruit. The green lime fruit is distinguished by its bumpy exterior and its small size (approx. 4 cm wide).
Uses
Cuisine
The rind of the kaffir lime is commonly used in Lao and Thai curry paste, adding an aromatic, astringent flavor. The zest of the fruit is used in creole cuisine and to impart flavor to "arranged" rums in the Martinique, Réunion island and Madagascar.
The leaves can be used fresh or dried, and can be stored frozen. Its hourglass-shaped leaves (comprising the leaf blade plus a flattened, leaf-like leaf-stalk or petiole) are widely used in Thai[3] and Lao cuisine (for dishes such as tom yum), and Cambodian cuisine (for the base paste "Krueng"). The leaves are used in Indonesian cuisine (especially Balinese cuisine and Javanese cuisine), for foods such as sayur asam, and are used along with Indonesian bay leaf for chicken and fish. They are also found in Malaysian[4] and Burmese cuisines.
Medicinal
The juice and rinds are used in traditional Indonesian medicine; for this reason the fruit is referred to in Indonesia as jeruk obat ("medicine citrus"). The oil from the rind 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 in Thailand.
Cultivation
Citrus x hystrix is grown worldwide in suitable climates as a garden shrub for home fruit production. It is well suited to container gardens and large garden pots on patios, terraces, and in conservatories.
Main constituents
The compound responsible for the characteristic aroma was identified as (–)-(S)-citronellal, which is contained in the leaf oil up to 80%; minor components are citronellol (10%), nerol and limonene.
From a stereochemical point of view, it is remarkable that kaffir lime leaves contain only (–)-(S)-citronellal, whereas the enantiomeric form (+)-(R)-citronellal is found in both lemon balm and (to a lesser degree) lemon grass, (note, however, that citronellal is only a trace component in the latter’s essential oil).
Kaffir lime fruit peel contains an essential oil comparable to lime fruit peel oil; main components are limonene and β-pinene.
Quarantine
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is issuing an interim rule announcing a plant quarantine in several states and territories in the United States to stop the spread of citrus greening, a plant disease that greatly reduces citrus production, destroys the economic value of the fruit and can kill trees. The interim rule replaces all previous federal orders related to citrus greening, expands areas under quarantine, allows additional treatment options and provides exemptions for certain fully processed products, such as curry leaves and kaffir leaves. [5]
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Citrus x hystrix |
References
- ^ a b GRIN . accessed 5.5.2011
- ^ Limau Purut.
- ^ Loha-unchit, Kasma. "Kaffir Lime – Magrood". http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/klime.html. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ Handy Pocket Guide to Asian Herbs & Spices By Wendy Hutton, Alberto Cassio
- ^ http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2010/06/citrus_disease.shtml
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
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