Has anyone ever tried to preserve a “Buddha’s Hand” citron fruit as you would preserve regular lemons?

my mom used to slice it, sun it, and salt it, then bottle it. When one of us kids came down with a sore throat, she'd put a spoonful of the preserved fruit in hot water, steep it for 10 minutes or so, and made us drink it. it works magic!

Thanks, twinjadojo! That's a cool web site.

Just saw this and had to share it with you. http://m.laweekly.com/squidink/2014/01/24/tt-in-la-4-ways-to-celebrate-the-lunar-new-year-at-the-farmers-market-recipe?page=2

Pegeen , agree this could be a novel, haiku or poem. People also seem to grate the zest and freeze it. I bought one last yr but it went bad before I cooked it. Smelled so good when I bought it and I used some zest in a rice dish . Very fragrant.

"Candying the Buddha's Hand" should be the name of someone's next novel.

Dawne, when you say, taste yours first, to see if it's bitter or sweet, confirming that you mean to taste it raw, right?

I recently candied a buddha's hand and learned a couple things. For instance, some buddha's hands are sweet and some are extremely bitter. You might want to check what yours tastes like first and then deal with it appropriately. For the candying, since mine was bitter, I should have boiled some of the bitterness off in order to produce a more desired tasting candy. You would do this by chopping up the hand and then boiling it in water, discarding the water, taste, add new water, boil again and repeat until it tastes right to you. I chopped the buddha's hand up length wise along the fingers and then crosswise into little circles. The whole fruit is edible. It is true that there isn't much juice or pulp and it seems to be used for a variety of things, some that use it in its entirety and some that just use the zest. I think in your case, I would try a tiny taste first to make sure that's the taste you want to preserve. Other than that, I think you're on the right track. I hope this helps with your endeavour! Let us know how it turns out.

So great. Thanks, Panfusine.
http://www.panfusine.com/2013/12/pickling-preserving-buddhas-hand.html

Panfusine, thank you so much. Your site looks wonderful... I'll be spending part of this snow day there.
Abbie, you cracked me up with "Buddhacello."

I used them to make "Buddhacello" a few years ago and that came out tasty too. Preserving them is a great idea!

I made a SOuth Indian style preserve with one fruit last month, turned out fabulous. The Weck Jars from Provisions were perfect to store the pickle!
http://www.panfusine.com/2013/12/pickling-preserving-buddhas-hand.html

Thank you, HLA. Am looking forward to trying this. I'll probably give them a test run at 30 days and see how they work before 90 days. I was wondering if there are Asian dishes where they are commonly used - the whole finger (poor Buddha!) and not just the zest. The article also mentions they are sometimes used as "sculptural" room fresheners.
And this cocktail looks awesome. Just lovely: Buddha's Hand and Thai Basil Cocktail
http://honestlyyum.com/8437/buddhas-hand-and-thai-basil-cocktail/

I've not done it, but it definitely seems feasible -- from what I can find people tend to slice the fingers into "manageable" pieces, pack with salt and lemon juice (as you are planning)and let sit until fruit is translucent (about 3 mons). I'd use in place of preserved lemon, in gremolata, with cauliflower in a frittata, or anyplace you want a little salty brightness.

Sorry, I meant, pack them in lemon juice (not water) with salt. And more importantly, what kind of dishes did you add them to? Thanks!