As a native Californian and ex-chef, it’s easy for me to think of kumquats as a normal everyday citrus like, say, a navel orange. I recognize that’s sort of a privileged view, but not because kumquats are spendy — truly, $5 worth of kumquats can last me a couple weeks if I use them as an accent ingredient.
For such a tiny fruit, their ellipsoid bodies pack a big punch. Halved kumquats can be a delicious tangy-sweet bite to accompany a creamy-salty cheese on a cheese platter, and you don’t need a lot of them to get their essence. Mature kumquat trees can produce a huge amount of fruit. So much so that my friend’s mom sends all of her son’s friends multiple 5-pound packages a year from Southern California because she’s the sweetest, and also because when she planted the now 14-foot tree she had no idea how bountiful it’d be.
So, what if you wanted to cook with kumquats in a big way? What if they had a destiny beyond your cocktail garnish? Those are questions I’ve avoided because the last time I wrote a recipe with kumquats in a big-ish way, I was labeled as an elitist in the comments section. It was during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and a pantry meal was objectively easier and safer, but really? Elitist for being a citrus nerd?
Kumquats can be turned into a big batch of jam or preserved in salt like you would lemons to add a little fruity funk and tang to stews and dressings. For something more immediate, they can be quartered, tossed in olive oil and roasted until caramelized for the main ingredient in a citrusy salsa.
Perhaps my new favorite way to use up a bunch of kumquats is this weekend treat: I toss them in a mixture of rice flour and all-purpose flour, lightly spiced with cinnamon and thinned out with sparkling water. I also fold in chopped bananas before I fry them until golden brown and crisp. Then I toss them in a musky lime zest sugar.
The raw kumquat softens and their mandarin orange flavor perfumes the fritter while the banana becomes jammy. The married flavors feel semitropical, but at the same time very Californian. They’re delicious and decidedly less precious than that cocktail garnish at your favorite restaurant.
More from Christian Reynoso
Kumquat and Banana Fritters With Lime Sugar
Makes about 10 small fritters
These fritters take advantage of the flavor affinity that citrus has with banana. They are also fun, sweet fried snacks for that weekend brunch. A mixture of all-purpose and rice flours provide a light yet structured body with a crisp exterior that should last several hours. If you’re new to or nervous about frying, try frying one fritter at a time to get the hang of it.
1 cup kumquats (about 5 ounces)
2 bananas (about 10 ounces)
6 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar
1 lime, for zesting
9 tablespoons (75 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (28 grams) rice flour
1 tablespoon (7 grams) corn starch
1½ teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Canola oil for frying
4 to 4½ ounces sparkling water or light beer such as lager or kolsch
Cut each kumquat into quarters, pluck out the seeds (either by squeezing them out or with a toothpick), discard those seeds, roughly chop the fruit into pea-sized pieces and place in a medium bowl. Peel the bananas, then roughly chop and place in the kumquat bowl and set aside.
Place 4 tablespoons of the sugar in a small bowl and finely grate the lime zest into the bowl. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, rice flour, corn starch, baking powder, cinnamon, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and salt.
Heat enough oil to come up about 2 inches or so on the sides of a large, deep frying pan or medium pot until about 350 degrees; to keep the oil at 350 degrees before and during frying, toggle the heat level up, down or even off if it gets too hot.
Stir 2 ounces of the sparkling water into the flour mixture, gradually adding more until it reaches the consistency of pancake batter. Fold in the chopped kumquats and banana.
Use a large spoon to gently drop about 2 to 3 tablespoons worth of batter into the hot oil, making sure not to crowd the pan, and cook, turning once or twice, until the fritters are golden brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place on a paper towel-lined platter.
Sprinkle the lime sugar over the warm fritters to coat all sides and serve immediately or at room temperature.
News Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/recipes/article/kumquat-banana-fritters-recipe-17828067.php