The kumquat marumi (round , ningbo) is the best tasting kumquat. This is the one that is cultivated in Japan to eat whole right off the tree. like candies. The oval kumquats and the fukuju kumquats (large fruit) are mainly decorative or cooked or dried. Eating a whole kumquat, the peel provides plenty of anti-inflammatory flavones. Everyone will tell you: if you have a cold, eat kumquats (round kumquat honey is a honey to which you add a few kumquats).
The round kumquat has a very sweet peel, and it makes a sweet vinegar (use a handful for 1 liter of rice vinegar) well suited to chicory (use the long kumquat in vinager for lettuce)
Japanese people with cold also infuse maraumi kumquats in saké. They can also be preserved in a light syrup.
Koji Kobayashi Poem: My wife's cheeks are warmed by a boiling kumquat.
Store fruit in a zip-lock bag in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. They last 2 weeks without drying out.
Marumi kumquat season is January.
