Calamansi is Philippine lemon and is commonly used for cooking.It is known in the west as acid orange, calamondin orange, or Panama orange.
Marmalade is a fruit preserve, made of orange or other citrus fruit, sugar, and water. Recipes include some amount of peel and zest, which imparts a sharp, bitter taste from the bitter citrus oil.(Source: Wikipedia)
What’s usually made into marmalade are Seville oranges which are higher in pectin than other oranges. Pectin are acid molecules which serves as thickener and forms a thick gel when combined with sugar.
Calamansi has a very good amount of pectin so it is perfect for marmalade. I also find Calamansi’s flavor fantastic. I’d choose an ice cold Calamansi Juice over Orange Juice anytime. I’ve heard a lot about a good calamansi marmalade sold somewhere in Quezon City but I don’t know where to get it so I thought of making one myself.
This measurement yielded two and a half small bottles of amazing marmalades. Do not attempt to make this if you don’t like the sweet-bitter-sour flavor of Calamansi but I recommend this highly if you do. This is the Calamansi marmalade of my dreams. I’m not saying this because I made it, I’m saying it because this is such a great recipe. I’m amazed with the results. So perfect on buttered toast…
Calamansi Marmalade/ Calamondin Marmalade
Recipe adapted from Market Manila
Ingredients
- 300 grams of Calamansi
- 2 ½ cup Sugar
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Wash the calamansi very well because you will be including the peel in making the marmalade.
- Remove the stem ends and squeeze the juice through a strainer so as not to include any seeds. Your marmalade would become very bitter if you included the seeds.
- Slice some of the skins thinly.
- Put calamansi juice, water and skin in a pot and bring it to a boil.
- Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Let it cool to room temperature and place in the fridge overnight to extract maximum pectin.
- Take the cold calamansi soup out of the fridge and add sugar.
- Boil the mixture in medium high heat until it reaches 220°F in a thermometer [setting point]. If you don’t have a thermometer, like me, {which reminds me, I have to get one} just boil/simmer it for 20 minutes.
- Skim the scum on top and put in sterilized jars.
- Set in the kitchen counter until it settles.
Have a great weekend!
20 Responses
Mmmmm… Sarap diba? 🙂
How many cups are 300 grams of calamansi>
is the juice included in the recipe/directions?
i like the word DIRECTION…………………..because of One Direction
Save the seeds!!! Those are loaded with pectin. Save them and place in a pouch or sachet made of muslin/cheesecloth, and boil with the citrus> Follow the steps as above; leave the seeds until midway through the second boiling (when sugar is added).
Thanks for the tip JVM!
i just want to ask if i cant even use the refring to cool down the jam but only a few secand of hours
Hello! May I know How many calamansi per 300 grams? Thanks!
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🙁 I don’t know, honestly. I just weighed it.
Can i use honey instead of sugar? Or would it work if muscovado is used? Thanks!
Hi Yayie,
I haven’t tried using honey or muscovado for jams yet 🙁
i made one…but it had a bitter taste?
Hi. Do I include the rind or just the peel?
Hi Ero, include some of the rind. It will be too bitter if you include all :).
So I’ve tried this recipe because i had several fresh calamansi fruit that i’ve harvested from our calamansi plant in the province. The recipe absolutely works and i’ve tried some of the commenter’s suggestions but there are a couple of things I would like to add.
1. If you will add the seed when boiling, try to cut the fruit in such way that the seeds don’t get sliced. I’ve tasted the seeds and they are the most bitter part of the fruit.
2. Boil separately the seeds from the zest/rind so they won’t get mixed when you’re done.
3. Be patient. I was almost tempted to add cornstarch because it wouldn’t set but as soon as it got cooler I’ve noticed it was getting thicker.
4. The bitterness lessens when you add more sugar but it does not go away.
And that’s it. Good day!
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Can I also make this with dalandan? Thanks. Please shate your thoughts. Dalandan or any local filipino oranges.
can i use only the juice not include the skin?
Yes!
Great one idea , thanks for sharing
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Great recipe. Easy to follow, you just have to be more careful when boiling/simmering if you are using a shallow pan since it has a tendency to overflow when heat is not controlled. We also tried adding the pulp together with about 5 grams of peel, so far the texture is really good, even better than just using the peel. Although the taste is particularly different than the common marmalades since the peel imparts a bitter taste
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