Zesty Lemon Cthulhu
When the stars are right, tasty things rise from the sea.
Earlier this week the grocery near work had something I'd never seen before. They called it fingered citron. It's also known as Buddha's Hand. I say it's zesty lemon cthulhu. This is what it looks like:
It feels slightly sticky and smells very strongly of citrus. I gather that it's mostly used to scent the air rather than in cooking, but it looks like food to me.
Since I'd never had it, I had to try it. I bought it, took it home, googled it, and found almost nothing about how to cook it. You can candy it or infuse vodka with it; otherwise there's not a lot out there.
Today the stars were right. There were bay scallops at the green market, something that happens once or twice a year. This suggested a use for the citron:
Bay scallops with zesty lemon cthulhu
3/4 lb. bay scallops
thumb of ginger, threaded
two zesty lemon cthulhu tentacles, sliced into thin disks
pinch dill
2-3 tbsp butter.
Melt the butter, add everything but the scallops, let it flavor the butter for a minute, add the scallops and cook until done (a little less than two minutes this time), serve.
Very tasty indeed. The cthulhu is all skin and pulp, but it's very oily and flavors the butter wonderfully. It's like lemon, but a little bitterer. The cthulhu disks themselves are edible but not exciting.
Earlier this week the grocery near work had something I'd never seen before. They called it fingered citron. It's also known as Buddha's Hand. I say it's zesty lemon cthulhu. This is what it looks like:
It feels slightly sticky and smells very strongly of citrus. I gather that it's mostly used to scent the air rather than in cooking, but it looks like food to me.
Since I'd never had it, I had to try it. I bought it, took it home, googled it, and found almost nothing about how to cook it. You can candy it or infuse vodka with it; otherwise there's not a lot out there.
Today the stars were right. There were bay scallops at the green market, something that happens once or twice a year. This suggested a use for the citron:
Bay scallops with zesty lemon cthulhu
3/4 lb. bay scallops
thumb of ginger, threaded
two zesty lemon cthulhu tentacles, sliced into thin disks
pinch dill
2-3 tbsp butter.
Melt the butter, add everything but the scallops, let it flavor the butter for a minute, add the scallops and cook until done (a little less than two minutes this time), serve.
Very tasty indeed. The cthulhu is all skin and pulp, but it's very oily and flavors the butter wonderfully. It's like lemon, but a little bitterer. The cthulhu disks themselves are edible but not exciting.