I first discovered this recipe when I was trying to make a jelly. The result was it was too runny and I was determined not to waste a drop – so, a Citrus Marinade was invented on the spot.
In a recent Crop Swap meet we were overwhelmed with the over abundance of citrus before us. We were swapping not only produce but inspiration as to how to make the most of an over supply of lemons. Some didn’t have any room in their freezer to store juice as ice cubes, and they were unlikely to drink it as a cordial. My first thought was this Citrus Marinade. The texture is somewhere between a cordial and a jelly, and it has so many applications.
Citrus Marinade is delicious basted over chicken, fish, a sweet and sour dish, or in a stir-fry. You can either use it ‘neat’ or water it down 1:1 if you wanted less of a citrus punch.
When the lemons are in abundance, it’s very likely there’ll be truck-loads of limes, mandarin, orange and grapefruit in your citrus orchard too. It’s citrus season after all! This marinade recipe can be made using just one variety if you wish (eg: lemons) but also as the capacity to mix in a bunch of different citrus fruit together as a medley (eg: lemons, mandarin, oranges). There is no hard and fast rules as to the ratio of different citrus fruits, just use whatever you have available to you at the time.
There is not a recipe per se but there is a method which I will share with you below. It is a jelly making process EXCEPT you won’t need to worry about the setting point. The result should be somewhere between a thick cordial (syrup) and a jelly. It if it over or under sets, no stress. Remember, it’s a marinade so there are no hard and fast rules.
The purpose of straining the liquid through a fine cloth vs a kitchen sieve, is that it results in clear liquid. If you used a kitchen sieve some of the pulp will flow through which doesn’t really affect the taste but can look a little cloudy.
Citrus Marinade
Ingredients
- Citrus fruit
- Water
- White sugar
Method
- Prepare your citrus fruit: wash, cut out and discard any section of the skin that is broken. Roughly chop up the citrus (yes: skin, pips, everything goes in) and throw into a large saucepan.
- Cover with cold water: literally, it’s that easy.
- Boil: boil for at least 60 minutes until the fruit is soft. The water level may evaporate somewhat but that’s all perfectly fine.
- Strain: prepare a jelly bag (or cheese cloth, or pillow slip) which stretch es over the edges of a colander that is nestled in the mouth of a bowl to catch the liquid as it strains through. Pour the pulp and juice into the jelly bag and allow the juice to strain freely into the bowl below. Leave for several hours or overnight. Try not to squeeze the bag (although it’s tempting to get more juice out) as it may make the final result somewhat cloudy or pulpy.
- Measure: the liquid in cups and using the 10:7 ratio (liquid to sugar) calculate how much sugar you’ll need. This batch happened to produce 7 cups of liquid (so 7 x 0.7 = 4.9 cups of sugar). The 0.7 equates to 70% if you are getting your head around the 10:7 ratio! It isn’t crucial that the sugar is exact. In this instance I rounded down the sugar to 4.5 cups (but I could have easily rounded it up to 5 cups).
- Boil again: bring your new measures to a rigorous boil for approximately 40-60 minutes. Scum may rise to the surface so scoop that out as you go.
- Bottle: pour into hot, clean sterilised jars and seal.