How to Sliver and Remove Bitterness from Orange Peel
There are a few dishes in the Persian Cuisine where orange peel is used. I love the taste of orange peel, even more so when it is covered in chocolate!!! When cooking with orange peel it is extremely important to remove the bitterness from the peel.
Here is how I sliver orange peel. I take my good and trusted vegetable peeler and go around the oranges and try to remove the peel as thinly as possible leaving behind all the white stuff. Make sure to remove any excess white with your knife. Then sliver the peel.
Place orange peel in a sauce pan cover with a generous amount of water and bring to a boil. Let boil for 10 minutes.
Strain in a colander. Then once again place in a sauce pan and repeat the two steps above two more times.
December 29, 2009
Who knew? That’s a pretty cool technique, lady!
December 29, 2009
Why thank you darling!! You may have the cool make-up techniques, but I have a couple of tricks up my sleeves in the kitchen!!! haha!!
December 30, 2009
Hi,
the technique you describe must be a sort of smart “shortcut” 🙂
I recently prepared orange marmalade and removing the bitterness from the orange peel was a 4 day process where you start punching lightly the oranges all over the surface using a toothpick and then you keep them under water or 4 days, changing the water every day. This method seems to work fine as i finally got a marmalade without any trace of bitterness while retaining most of the white part, that i like very much.
Bye!
Tlaz
December 30, 2009
Wow Tlaz,
I had never heard of such a long process. One thing that I absolutely hate is when marmalades are bitter. Did you do the oranges whole? I once received a marmalade as a gift there the person who made it had curled the peel. It was the most delicious marmalade ever. I have to say I always read that they say to only boil the peel for 10 minutes. But I have found that doing it once doesn’t make any difference at all. 🙂
January 1, 2010
I agree, boiling for 10 minutes doesn’t make any difference.
If you absolutely want to process the whole oranges or other citruses as well, the immersion in water is the way to go (after punching the fruit). Lemons may take longer because when i prepared limes with coconut in the Mexican style, i had to keep them under water for a week.
Bye!
Tlaz
January 1, 2010
Tlaz, since you are pretty knowledgeable about Mexican food, do you know what to do with fresh Guava? I have a tree in my backyard and they all go to waste. I know you can make jam, I just don’t seem to find anyone who has a recipe for it. Also, while we are at it, do you have any tips on what to do with Loquats? My Loquats are small and green right now but I never know what to do with them either. I know you can make liquor out of it too…
January 5, 2010
Good question 😉
Guayaba is not one of my favorite picks, i like most the guanabana.
For sure is used for preparing fresh juices (aguas) so you simply strain the juice with some water and ice and then you drink it. In Mexico there is plenty of shop selling instantly made fresh fruit juices.
I love Loquats, but, again, i eat them raw when they are ripe.
I also love them in fruit salads, italian style, that is with added sugar and lemon juice, mixed with other season’s fruit.
Let me see if i get some recipe with guavas in the literature 😉
Bye!
January 5, 2010
I knew I could count on you Tlaz!!!
January 7, 2010
Salam.
Thank you for all the delicious meals.
I got lost a little here and I can not find at what stage to add the reshteh to the rice.
Hamed.
January 10, 2010
The rice and reshteh are cooked together. I am sorry if I didn’t make it clear!
November 1, 2010
Boiling the peel a few times and discarding the water is also a way of making sure that any pesticide treatment will have been eliminated. Brushing the fruit with a nail-brush before peeling is an additional step for eliminating eventual chemical treatments if no organic fruits are available.
October 31, 2012
Hi dear,
I had a quick question. Once i am done boiling them 3 times and strained them can I dry them or not, and if so how do you do it. Thanks
November 2, 2012
Venuse, yes you can dry them on a paper towel.
December 11, 2012
This is the first time I have ever made marmalade. From all the things I have read about the bitterness it could have, I found this tip more than welcoming. However, I can not find the recipe to make it. Do you have a recipe on here, if not, do you recommend one?
December 19, 2012
Tracey, I don’t have a recipe for Marmalade, yet!
December 27, 2012
Hi,
I cooked orange marmalade .but it’s been bitter.please tell me how I can eliminate bitterness of that.
March 13, 2013
Roz, if it’s bitter, then the bitterness was not properly removed during that stage. You can try adding more sugar.
March 17, 2015
Does not boiling remove the nutrients from the orange peels?
March 17, 2015
Carmi, it probably does.