Buddha’s Hands are a particularly unusually shaped variety of citron. They’re actually almost all pith on the inside, with no juice to speak of. However, their outer zest is flavorful and intensely fragrant, making this (and their potential for interesting presentations) their primary draw.

Storage: Store fresh buddha hands at room temperature for up to several days.

For long term storage, Buddha hands can be frozen, which will preserve much of the flavor & aroma of the zest at the expense of the fruit's appearance and texture.

Shelf Life: Several days fresh, several months frozen.

Citrons’ (including Buddha’s hands) primary culinary use is to make candied citrus zest (how to candy citrus zest). A byproduct of the candying process will be a flavored and perfumed simple syrup that can be used to sweeten drinks & cocktails, moisturize cakes, or sweeten sorbets.

Their zest can also be finely grated or chopped and used in other recipes (both savory and sweet) just as you would lemon zest. Try steeping Buddha hand zest in vodka to make an exciting cocktail mixer (browse our assorted cocktail recipes for inspiration).

Citrus Recipes