We moved to a property in Victoria Australia last year and have many fruit trees, one of which is a prolifically fruiting kaffir lime tree. Can I freeze or dry the leaves. I need some ideas and inspiration please!

cardiffgirl - 2019-04-30 15:13:00

You can do but I always have them on hand on the tree never need frozen ones.

gilligee - 2019-04-30 16:08:00

You can freeze (and probably dry) the leaves.
They are used a lot in Asian/Thai recipes.

unknowndisorder - 2019-04-30 16:10:00

Flash fry them and add to fish etc, absolutely yummy.

westward1 - 2019-04-30 16:21:00

They freeze well, but there is no point in drying them. Our little tree always has leaves so I just pick them as I need them.

As well as the usual South East Asian uses, kaffir lime leaves are a good flavouring for poached fruit, especially feijoas. The zest is also useful, but use it sparingly as it can dominate. It makes a nice lime curd (use ordinary lime juice and kaffir lime zest).

davidt4 - 2019-04-30 16:44:00

davidt4 wrote:

They freeze well, but there is no point in drying them. Our little tree always has leaves so I just pick them as I need them.

As well as the usual South East Asian uses, kaffir lime leaves are a good flavouring for poached fruit, especially feijoas. The zest is also useful, but use it sparingly as it can dominate. It makes a nice lime curd (use ordinary lime juice and kaffir lime zest).

Oh well I had never thought of using them to poach with feijoas! Guess what I will be doing tomorrow lol..........thank you!

I poach chicken breasts with kaffir, lemongrass, spring onions, ginger and peppercorns, coriander stalks; and then use it cold for lunch time salads.

awoftam - 2019-04-30 17:40:00

awoftam wrote:

Oh well I had never thought of using them to poach with feijoas! Guess what I will be doing tomorrow lol..........thank you!

I poach chicken breasts with kaffir, lemongrass, spring onions, ginger and peppercorns, coriander stalks; and then use it cold for lunch time salads.

** drools **

** trots off to get a couple of chicken breasts out of freezer.... **

autumnwinds - 2019-04-30 17:50:00

Thankyou everyone

cardiffgirl - 2019-04-30 18:03:00

Our Kaffir Lime tree grow tiny Limes which I pick off and discard. (it is in a large pot)

Have done a few cooking classes in Thailand and they appear to only use the leaves. (i.e never seen the actual fruit used BUT never asked why not)
Always wanted a tree BUT far too expensive - Someone gave me a Voucher for a well known Nursery chain but even that was not enough to purchase a tree. The plant Doctor at the Nursery gave me a cutting off a tree that had been damaged in a storm.
I planted it with ROOTING HORMONE on the tip and it has flourished for the past 10 or so years

Edited by snapperheadrkp at 6:15 pm, Tue 30 Apr

snapperheadrkp - 2019-04-30 18:11:00

We have a tree, it's always covered in leaves so no need to store as they are always available. Friends know it's there and come around and pick as they need. We have never run out of fresh leaves. I have seen them in the supermarket freezers though.

lulu-belle1 - 2019-05-03 11:51:00

snapperheadrkp wrote:

....
Have done a few cooking classes in Thailand and they appear to only use the leaves. (i.e never seen the actual fruit used BUT never asked why not)
...

The zest is sometimes used in curry pastes, in very small quantities.

davidt4 - 2019-05-03 11:54:00

The actual fruit is not very juicy and the zest is hard and knobbly. Our fruit is small, with thick pith and very little flesh. But the leaves - oh yum, and they smell divine!

lulu-belle1 - 2019-05-03 14:20:00

You can't eat the fruit, unfortunately.

westward1 - 2019-05-03 15:56:00