Preserved lemons

This is a really fun project that doesn't take a lot of time to do but will give you a fantastic ingredient to cook with... You just need the patience to wait for four weeks.


You don't need a lot of ingredients. The two basic ones are just lemon and salt. But these two simple and everyday components will give you something extraordinary in four weeks time. The result is rinsed, de-pulped and sliced or diced (i.e. you just need the lemon rind) and will give any dish you add it to a flavor intensity that the two raw products on their own could not have achieved.

You can add further flavorings by adding spices. The possibilities are endless; fennel, cumin, coriander, different peppers, cinnamon, star anise, dried woody herbs, etc, etc.

The basic ratio to keep in mind is that you need one to two tablespoons of normal salt to every lemon you want to preserve. The lemons should be organic and ideally unwaxed. If you aren't sure about the wax, wash them thoroughly.

This gives you the option of making a smaller batch to try this out, if I haven't convinced you yet.
I made a portion if one and a half lemon with a bay leaf, coriander seeds and Szechuan pepper this time. I also added a bit of pink salt, so the coloring is slightly off.

So this is the basic "recipe":

Lemons (you may need one or two extra for the juice)
1-2 tablespoons salt per lemon to be preserved
Aromatics to taste
Jam jar or other preserving receptacle

Wash your jar(s) in hot water to sterilize. Quarter your lemons lengthwise.* Start by putting a layer of salt into your jar. Take your lemon quarters, squeeze their juice into the jar and start layering them. Add salt when each layer is finished.
When all your lemons and salt are in the jar, add your aromatics and top up with extra juice if needed. The lemons should be well covered.
Put them somewhere out of the way and give them a shake from time to time.

*The other technique is to quarter them but not cut through completely and them fill the salt into the cavity. I prefer the quarters because you need less space and extra juice and I find that you only need the preserved lemons in doses of one quarter most of the time anyway.