citrus rootstock fruit!

Kath says...
The fruits are very resiny like a kaffir lime fruit, they are considered to be inedible although not toxic as far as I know. Very spikey tree. A bush lemon would be hardy and produce fruit that are juicy and palatable.

Brendan says...
Hi MaryT, doesn't look like a citrus to me, but I could be wrong. If you squash a leaf in your hands, does it smell like citrus?

Brendan says...
Yes MaryT, I can usually pick a mardarin tree by the smell of the leaves too. Might be a 'MaryT' variety mando? :-)
I have a 'Brendan' variety sweet lemon, (not a lemonade), that I plan to hopefully develope. It looks like a bush lemon, but you can't eat the skin, but it's beautiful and SWEET inside!?

Mike says...
Mary strike with an iron fist and cut it down to size before you get attched to it.

Brendan says...
Thanks for that MaryT! But I've been thinking, what would one use a sweet lemon for? You know, we use lemons because they're nice & sour :-)

Just wondering, would you have a recipe for 'beef & veg stir-fry'? Your banana cake was perfect! :-)
I'm mainly after that 'special' sauce. It had fish sauce, palm sugar, soy sauce and something else?

MaryT says...
Brendan - think about the recipes that has the lemon flavour yet needs tons of sugar to sweeten it and there's your answer to why we need a sweet lemon. The Meyer lemon fits the bill but I'm sure there's room for another :)

We know you're growing beef for the manure for your bananas so I'm not surprised that you now want a recipe for stir fried beef. :) Fish sauce and palm sugar are not ingredients that Chinese (I'm Cantonese) would routinely use in their cooking. Jujube (Lucy) might be able to help you there.

MaryT says...
Thanks for that, Julie! I have a good feeling about this one. :) Oh I do hope it is a bush lemon.

MaryT says...
Yes, Brendan - sweet lemons; throw them my way as I love lemons and am diabetic. :)

At risk of being told off for writing recipes on a fruit tree forum, here's what this Cantonese does with a Beef Stir Fry (stir fry vegetables separately if using):

Slice up a tender steak across the grain
Marinade for up to half an hour with a large pinch of salt and sugar, some white pepper, a teaspoon each of Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce and tapioca flour. Mix well then stir in A LITTLE water - beef should NOT look even WET. Stir in a little oil and sesame oil just before cooking.

Heat a wok till smoking, swirl in a couple of tablespoons of oil, add slivers of garlic, ginger, spring onions plus/minus chilli etc (optional) then add beef and toss for a couple of minutes. Keep on high heat and splash in more wine. Finally, if you want sauce, mix half a teaspoon of tapioca flour with about a quarter cup of water (here is where you can add fish sauce and palm sugar or other flavouring e.g. oyster sauce if desired) and add to wok, stir till it thickens (almost immediately.)

Plate up and throw on top of stir fried vegetables or toss them in with the beef before plating.

Sorry to be so long winded - it happens in a flash in real life :)

MaryT says...
Mike, my mulching arm is in a sling at the moment (it's true I swear) so will sharpen the axe when it's back on duty. Sadly there's a strong chance I will not make it to Vietnam and Cambodia in August. However, a student will be in Malaysia and Singapore for five weeks during that time and he would be willing to find things if necessary.

MaryT says...
A minor complication in the scheme of things, Mike. I'll be back but the citrus gets a reprieve :)

MaryT says...
Thanks for email address Brendan. Mine is tngmryatyahoodotcomdotau. Happy cooking.

Brendan says...
Hi jujube, it's like a normal 'bush lemon' AFTER eating a miracle fruit or two :-)
It's not real good on fish, oysters etc, but very nice & juicey to eat straight.
The tree copped a hiding with the 2½ cyclones we've had lately :-(