citrus bliss

calamansi, also known as calamondin, calamunding, or dalandan

(citrofortunella microcarpa),

a species native to philippines,

is a small round fruit similar to lime packed with very distinct citrus flavor.

it is usually used in cooking, marinades, dips, even bleaching and whitening.

a good/better substitute for lemon,

as it has the same strong flavor and properties but in a smaller size.

 

we planted about eight calamansi trees in our small lot a few years ago,

and they have been giving us lots and lots of fruits,

we usually only use it for pansit (rice noodles), marinade for barbecue,

or dip for inihaw na baboy (grilled pork).

this time, i have something in mind.

i am making something so these fruits will not go to waste :)

yesterday, my nephew and i went calamansi picking.

we just picked and picked for about an hour.

it was fun picking.

the storm has just passed so the clouds

are still covering the sun but not raining anymore.

we had the perfect weather for picking!

though our calamansi trees have plenty of fruits,

it also has prolific flowers at the same time!

good thing the storm did not damage these beautiful fragrant little blooms.

we've managed to pick three small one-gallon pails.

the calamansi fruits went straight to our sink for washing.

 

then they were transferred to a bigger bucket.

i will be bringing them home to make some juice.

these are perfect for the rainy weather to fight against

cough and cold.

did i mention that it is rich in vitamin C?

when the bucket full of calamansi arrived,

my little curious helper was inspecting what was inside.

i've heard cats hate citrus peels, but this one is an exception!

all the time we were preparing the juice, she was just right there

sitting next to the bucket.

i even gave her a calamansi to play with.

after washing it again,

i halved every single calamansi fruit crosswise.

i am guessing i halved about 500 or more calamansi last night.

 my husband was the ever reliable manual juicer,

squeezing those halved calamansi fruit.

no pain, no gain!

we did this while watching "pilipinas got talent"

slicing and cutting until our fingers were like prunes.

we were done just as the show ended.

after all that hard work, here's what we got.

one liter of pure calamansi juice and one plastic bag full of squeezed calamansi fruit and seeds!

at this stage, one could already just add water to this and some sugar and drink it,

but because i wanted it to last longer

since we can't consume that pure 1 liter juice in a few days

and i wanted to share some,

in a large pot,  i added one part sugar to one part calamansi juice

and stirred it over very low heat until the sugar dissolves.

i let it cool a bit then transferred it to jars for storage.

i will be keeping them inside the fridge for a few days,

until this mixture turns syrupy.

this will make them last longer for us to enjoy,

scooping just a teaspoon per one glass of ice-cold water.

i also experimented with some of the mixture

and placed them on ice cube trays.

refreshing!
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