Honey-Preserved Kumquats (Mi Jin Ju)

Why people make this

Preserved kumquats are one of those old-fashioned pantry staples that seem modest but turn out to be quietly indispensable. Keep a jar on hand, and you have a ready remedy for the moment a cough won’t quit, a big meal sits heavily in your stomach, or someone has had a glass too many at dinner. Kumquats are unusual among citrus fruits in that you eat the entire fruit — peel included — and in fact, about 80% of their vitamins A, C, and P are concentrated in the fragrant skin. Traditional food therapy values kumquats for warming and moving qi in the lungs and stomach: the kind of gentle, aromatic push that helps ease a tight chest, dissolve stubborn phlegm, or coax a sluggish digestion back to life. Curing them with salt first and then layering with rock sugar creates a sweet-sour, slightly salty syrup over the course of a month — a process that concentrates and mellows the fruit. Nourilo first made salt-preserved kumquats, but this rock-sugar version is sweeter and more versatile.