Preserved Lemons
A jar of these sitting on your counter is the easiest way to sharpen a meal without adding more acid. You only need two ingredients and enough patience to let time do the work.
Salt is the preservative and the catalyst.
Use a coarse kosher salt or sea salt; fine table salt with anti-caking agents can make the brine murky. Ensure your jar is wide-mouthed so you can press the lemons down firmly to extract their juice.
- 1-quart wide-mouth glass jar with a tight lid
- Sharp paring knife
What goes in.
- 6-8organic lemons, scrubbed clean
- 1/2 cupcoarse kosher salt
The foundation of the cure
Cut the lemons from the stem end down to within a half-inch of the base, then rotate 90 degrees and cut again. This keeps the fruit connected while opening it wide enough to pack with salt.
The method.
Prepare the jar
Sprinkle two tablespoons of salt at the bottom of your glass jar.
Salt and pack
Open each lemon and pack the center with a generous spoonful of salt. Place the lemon in the jar, pressing down hard enough to start releasing juice. Repeat until the jar is full.
Seal and submerge
If the extracted juice does not cover the lemons, add freshly squeezed lemon juice until they are submerged. Ensure at least an inch of headspace remains below the lid.
Wait and rotate
Keep the jar on the counter. Every day for the first week, turn the jar upside down and back again to distribute the salt. After the first week, move it to a cool, dark place for at least three more weeks.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Discard the pulp if it turns mushy, but keep the rind; the rind is where the aromatics concentrate.
Rinse the rind under cold water before using to remove excess salt if your palate prefers.
Once opened, move the jar to the refrigerator to halt the curing process.
The ones that keep coming up.
How do I know if they are done?
The rinds should be translucent and soft enough to pierce easily with a fork.
Can I use Meyer lemons?
Yes. They have thinner, sweeter rinds that cure faster and possess a more floral aroma.
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