[Home](/) # Candying Pomelo / Pummelo 2025-01-20. Omar Mustardo. A few weeks ago I got a pomelo from 99 Ranch.  I've had them in the past and remembered how thick the rind is, so I Googled "pomelo rind uses". Apparently candying them is an option: https://ronitpenso.wordpress.com/2020/01/12/candied-pomelo-rind/ I had never candied anything before so I followed the linked recipe. ## Requirements * Cooking pot (like for pasta) * Colander * Wax paper and a sheet pan (or a food dehydrator) ## Ingredients * 1 or more pomelos * Granulated sugar * Lemon juice ## Steps ### Prepare the pith Peel the pomelo. Trim off the outer layer of skin, leaving just the pith. Cut the pith into small pieces. Smaller is generally better as it otherwise takes a long time to dry out in a later step. I stuck with cubes, but in retrospect using thin/flat pieces would have been good for drying.  ### Leach out bitterness Pith on its own is very bitter. Candying is basically using pith as a sponge for sugar water, but the bitterness would still be noticeable so we need to remove it. Put the pith pieces in a pot with water. Bring to a boil and let it boil for a couple minutes. Stir it around to ensure that all pieces get boiled and they aren't floating on the top. You can put a plate or something on top of them to hold them down, if you have one that fits. Dump the boiled pith into a colander, pour on cool water, and then squeeze out pieces by hand to remove most of the liquid. My guess is that boiling breaks down some cell walls which lets the following soaking work better. Cover with water and leave at room temperature for ~6 hours. Strain in a colander and squeeze out the water. Do this soak+strain process a total of three times. The original recipe recommends tasting the water to check for bitterness, to see if repeating more is needed. The water didn't smell or taste good to me, but I continued anyway.    ### Add sugar Directly from the original recipe: "Add 1 cup sugar and 1½ cups water, for each 1 cup squeezed pieces, and the lemon juice, and mix gently. Cover and keep at room temperature for about 3 hours, until the pieces are plump again, and the sugar dissolved."  ### Cook down Directly from the original recipe: "Mix gently, cover the pot, and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to minimum, uncover the pot and cook for about 30-40 minutes, or until the syrup is completely absorbed in the pieces, and they are transparent and shiny. (Check closely towards the end of the cooking time). Let cool to room temperature."  ### Dry Line a sheet pan with wax paper and place pieces on it to dry. Leave space between them. Move them around to ensure they dry. A food dehydrator would be great for this step. The original recipe suggested this would take 1-2 days, but it took a few more than that.  ### Results They are similar to candied fruit from the store. Not a strong flavor, but pleasant enough. They weren't too hard to make, and for a single pomelo it was quite a bit of candy. Perhaps I'll try candying ginger sometime.