Rangpur lime

Citrus × limonia · Citrus

40 pairings

The Rangpur is a small, intensely acidic citrus with the loose, easy-peeling orange skin of a mandarin and the fierce sourness of a lime — despite the name it is neither a true lime nor an orange, but a mandarin-and-lemon (or citron) hybrid. Orange-fleshed and aromatic, it is prized as a hardy, juicy souring fruit and as a vigorous rootstock for other citrus.

Picking a good onedrag

Heavy, taut, oil-slickPuffy, light, scent gone

Market freshThe everyday souring fruit: drinks, marinades, pickles, chutney.Buy it

RindOrange, still tight, the sheen going matte

Weight in handSolid, the loose rind just moving on the flesh

The buttonButton on and browning, or a clean dry scar

Scratched peelFragrant when rubbed, the resinous edge softer

What to look for, from heavy, taut, oil-slick to puffy, light, scent gone.

Keeping ittap a band

No chilling point has been measured for the Rangpur; Handbook 66 holds mandarins and their hybrids at 5-8 C, and colder than that a thin rind pits, then rots. Use the crisper.

Humidity

90-95%

A thin rind over loosely held segments: in dry air it shrivels and lifts away from the flesh within days. Keep it loose in the crisper, unwashed.

Airflow

Ventilated, not sealed

A vented bag or an open bowl. Sealed in plastic the button sweats, and blue-green Penicillium runs from one wet fruit through the rest.

Reddens the rind, never sweetens it

Non-climacteric: it makes almost none itself, and no fruit bowl will take the sourness out. A neighbour's ethylene only deepens the rind colour and starts rot at the button.

Preparing