Ever since reading Adam Gollner's wonderful Fruit Hunters, I've made a point to try out new fruits whenever I see them. This week, I encountered a buddha's hand and had to have it (despite the hefty price tag). Common in Asia but rare in my native Midwest, these are a type of citron - a citrus fruit that's almost all peel and pith and no fruit or juice. They don't have the bitter pith that dooms all but the most outer bits of a lemon peel, making them ideal for applications requiring a lot of peel; the fruits also smell great and look terrifying.
Buddha's hand was eventually divided into buddhacello (like limoncello, only with the hand), which is infusing merrily as I write, and Alice Waters's recipe for winter citron salad with fennel, radish, and celery from Chez Panisse Fruit.
Verdict: It's certainly interesting in appearance and the taste, if you like citrus, is lovely--more fragrant and complex than lemons. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how the buddhacello project turns out. At more than $15 for the fruit, though ($8/pound at Whole Foods), I'm not sure it's worth splurging on more than once.
The Buddha's Hand Salad was rounded out with General Tsofu from the Shun Lee Cookbook, jasmine rice, mushroom buns, and Tsingtao. Updates on buddhacello to follow.
