New food of the week - Buddha's hand

My new food this week was a Buddha's hand citrus.

Quite a scary food from it's look. Would be good for halloween!

It is a citrus fruit but has very little flesh and is juiceless and often seedless.  The fruit is made up of fingerlike parts unto 12 inches long.

It is a fragrant fruit and used predominantly by the Chinese and Japanese as a room freshener.  Just place a Buddha's hand in the room and the fragrance perfumes the room.  It is also used for freshening the smell of clothing.

The fruit is also used as an offering in Buddhist temples.  Apparently, Buddha prefers the fingers to be more "closed" rather than as an open hand, to signify prayer.

As a food, just the peel is used.  The inner pith- the white part under the peel is not as bitter as pith on other citrus fruits so the fingers can be cut off and then sliced longitudinally - pith and all -  and used in salads or with fish dishes etc.

I decided that I'd use a microplane to get the zest off the fingers, and then dehydrate it for future use.  I used some of it on a salad and it had a lovely citrus flavor - not too sharp.

Next time I'll try a finger, whole!

Did you try a new food this week?