• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese

Tiny Urban Kitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    • Ecriture Hong Kong
      Unexpectedly Closed: Écriture Hong Kong (2 Michelin Stars)
    • 凹糟管 Aozao Restaurant
      Aozao Guan 凹糟館 - Modern Yunnan Cuisine in Kunming, China
    • Kunming China
      Two Days in Kunming Yunnan China
    • Xishuangbanna Yunnan China
      Xishuangbanna: Hani Minority Food
    • Gaozhuang Night Market Xishuangbanna 告莊夜市
    • Xishuangbanna Yunnan China
      Xishuangbanna - Dai Cuisine & Culture
    • Restaurant 摩 Mora, Hong Kong - Vicky Lau
      Restaurant Mora 摩 Hong Kong by Vicky Lau
    • Guilin Yangshuo China
      Guilin Yangshuo Food + Lodging Report
    • Guilin Yangshuo China
      Guilin & Yangshuo China Trip Report
    • Hangzhou West Lake China
      Hangzhou China Trip Report
    • Wild Mushroom Hot Pot Yunnan
      Poisonous(?) Mushroom Hot Pot in Yunnan
    • jian Shui Yunnan China
      Foreigners Navigating Post-Pandemic Travel in China During Chinese New Year
    Home » Recipe » Vegetables

    Published: Apr 7, 2010 · Modified: Oct 22, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    Meyer Lemons

    Meyer Lemons
    You'd have to be in a food blog coma if you haven't read at least one blog post about the Meyer lemon. Before I started this food blogging thing, I had never heard of this lemon before.  However, this past winter, it seemed like every other post was about the Meyer lemon.  People were making all sorts of dishes out of Meyer lemons: cakes, pies, chicken, ice cream, lemon curd . . . the list goes on and on.

    I was really intrigued.  What is a Meyer Lemon?  And what makes it so special?
    Meyer Lemons
    The Meyer lemon originated from China, and is actually a cross between a regular lemon and a Mandarin orange!  For years it was used mostly as a decorative houseplant because of its pretty fruit. It wasn't really recognized as a food item until the early 1900's when Frank Meyer, an American agricultural explorer sent by the US government to seek out new plant species, brought some samples to the US.  Since then, people like Alice Waters and Martha Stewart have made this fruit really popular in America.

    The color difference between a Meyer lemon and a regular lemon is striking.  In the picture below, I have laid Meyer lemon slices next to normal lemon slices.  Note how the Meyer lemon is almost orange in color while the normal lemon is a pale yellow.
    Meyer Lemons
    The Meyer lemon is much less tart and has a light sweetness that must come from the Mandarin side of the family.  Its flavor is much more floral and less astringent, and is quite enjoyable on its own (the regular lemon is much more tart!).  The skin of a Meyer lemon is much thinner, much less pithy than a regular lemon's rind.  In fact, some say you can eat the rind, although I have not tried that yet.

    You can substitute the Meyer lemon for regular lemons in most recipes, as long as you keep in mind that the Meyer lemon is less tart, slightly sweeter, and has a more floral and complex flavor.

    Here's a lovely salad I have been enjoying as part of my "detox" diet for the last few days.  After two weekends in a row of traveling to both NYC and DC (more on my dining experiences there soon!) I really needed to clean out some of those rich foods from my system!
    Salad

    Arugula Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette 
    This salad uses the Meyer lemon as the base for the vinaigrette. The rest of the ingredients are very flexible.   In fact, I have been varying up the ingredients a bit each day.  One day I might decide to add almonds for crunch, while another day I'll use cucumbers and add a soft-boiled egg (which, by the way, tastes fantastic with a slight drizzle of truffle oil and sea salt!).  As a general rule, you just want to chop everything about the same size.  It's really pretty flexible, and everything tastes great with the refreshing citrus vinaigrette.

    Ingredients

    baby arugula
    smoked mozarella, quartered and sliced
    bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled
    roasted almonds
    red bell pepper, chopped
    hard boiled eggs, sliced
    mini-cucumbers, sliced

    Citrus Vinaigrette
    I used the citrus vinaigrette recipe from my Thomas Keller citrus marinated salmon with potato blinis and garden greens post.  As for modifications, I used a 1:1 ratio of Meyer Lemon juice and regular lemon juice as the "citrus juice."  I wanted some tartness (from the regular lemon), but  I also wanted the sweeter, more aromatic flavors of the Meyer lemon.  I also found that adding just a touch of sea salt really brought out the flavors of the dressing and made the entire salad much more delicious.  Of course, you can use regular salt or kosher salt if you don't have sea salt on hand.

    Toss the arugula with the citrus vinaigrette.  Add in your favorite ingredients, and enjoy!  Optionally garnish with pretty slices of lemon. 🙂
    ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
    All Rights Reserved

    More Recipe

    • Healthy Quinoa Crackers
    • Miso Eggplant
      Miso Glazed Eggplant -Nasu Dendaku
    • Okra with Chicken
      Pan Charred Okra Stir Fry
    • Taiwanese Pork Stuffed Bitter Melon

    Recent Posts

    • Unexpectedly Closed: Écriture Hong Kong (2 Michelin Stars) October 10, 2023
    • Aozao Guan 凹糟館 - Modern Yunnan Cuisine in Kunming, China October 8, 2023
    • Two Days in Kunming Yunnan China October 7, 2023
    • Xishuangbanna: Hani Minority Food September 10, 2023
    • Gaozhuang Night Market Xishuangbanna 告莊夜市 September 7, 2023
    • Xishuangbanna - Dai Cuisine & Culture September 4, 2023
    • Restaurant Mora 摩 Hong Kong by Vicky Lau August 31, 2023
    • Guilin Yangshuo Food + Lodging Report August 26, 2023

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    logo
    Food Advertisements by

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • jian Shui Yunnan China
      Jian Shui Yunnan Trip Report
    • Jen's Top Restaurants to visit in Boston - 2023 Update
    • I'm Featured in the South China Morning Post! (SCMP)
    • Restaurant Table Paris France
      Restaurant Table Bruno Verjus Paris

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012
    logo
    Food Advertisements by

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen