How to Make Dried Tangerine Peels
February 15, 2012 § 3 Comments
One of my favorite things about winter is the small, delicious citrus fruit that comes into season at this time. It’s beautiful. In the middle of a long dark winter, tangerines of all kinds are like small little doses of sunshine. At the store near my house, you can often find 5 lb bags of these tangerines on sale for the same price as a jug of orange juice. It’s the best preventative health care I can think of.
After I’m done devouring my tangerines, I’ll sometimes dry out the peels in the oven to use for later. What do I use them for? Any number of things. I’ll throw them in with some rice to give it a nice, fresh fragrance. I’ll add them to a nice cup of mint tea. Put them into a chicken brine. Use them to make the Chinese classic, orange chicken.
Here’s how you do it: Set your oven for warm. Spread out your tangerine peels on a wire pizza rack, or baking tray. Put the peels in the oven. Walk away for 4-6 hours. Pull them out of the oven.
The peels will start to fold up as they dry. You can let them go until they are a pretty dark brown, and their flavor will continue to concentrate. If you dry them thoroughly, they will keep pretty much indefinitely in a tightly sealed jar.
MINT TEA WITH DRIED TANGERINE PEELS
2 – 3 cups water
1 tsp dried mint
1 dried red chili, seeded and chopped
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 large piece of dried tangerine peel, or several smaller pieces
2 tsp honey
Lemon juice
Heat water until it boils, then let it sit for a minute or so to cool down just a bit. Place the mint, dried chili, ginger and tangerine peel in a ceramic tea pot. Pour the just boiled water into the pot, and allow to steep for 5 – 10 minutes (depending on how strong you want the tea.)
Put a teaspoon of honey into each of two cups. Strain the tea into each cup, and stir thoroughly to dissolve the honey. Add a few drops of lemon juice into each cup.
This is my go-to concoction whenever I’m sick or run down. The spice from the chili helps drain any stuffiness and the honey is soothing for a sore throat. The tangerine peels simply add a pleasant aroma to an already delicious tea. Enjoy this one on a cold winter night!
Great ideas! I’m definitely not throwing out my peels anymore. The tea sounds divine.
Mint tea with dried tangerine peels is sounding really good on this cold, rainy day.
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