citrus leaves edible?

dogpaws_2008

15 years ago

Are citrus leaves edible? In Thai cooking, you use the leaves of the wild Thai lime, torn and removed or slivered fine and not removed, to infuse their incredible flavor in a dish.

I've asked around and no one has been able to answer me. Can I use the leaves of the local Persian lime trees the same way? What about orange trees? No one seems to know including the local ag county extension. They both smell intoxicatingly fragrant when you tear the leaves.

I'm guessing the answer is probably yes and they sell lime oil and orange oil but I hesitate to use myself as a guinea pig.

Thanks

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truman7_westnet_com_au

12 years ago

I have often used slivered leaves of Tahitian lime in a beef and (green) beans stir-fry, with garlic, soy sauce, Thai fish sauce and brown sugar, and served with rice. Delicious! Quite a different flavour from Kaffir lime leaves, but most certainly edible. I'm in Brisbane (Queensland) and had the tree growing at home.

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Comments (10)

cabrita
15 years ago
I have a Kaffir lime tree (Thai) so I limit my citrus leaves use in cooking to only that one....but I do not see how it would be so different from the other citrus leaves? maybe Kaffir is the best tasting?
Daisyduckworth
15 years ago
There isn't much information out there on this subject, as I found on doing a quick search. I don't think citrus leaves are edible as such - but the leaves of some species can be used to add flavouring, or be used as a food wrap. Liken them to bay leaves - you add them for flavour, but you don't actually eat them.

I'd prefer to have more information before recommending any other citrus leaves but Kafir Lime, however, just to be on the safe side.
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mersiepoo
15 years ago
I know citrus leaves are not poisonous..they recommend using them (unsprayed of course) or rose leaves when making chocolate leaves for garnishes on cakes and desserts. Not sure if they taste better than kaffir lime leaves or not, haven't tried either of them.
dogpaws_2008
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone. Now that I know they're not poisonous, I'll experiment with them. The leaves are from my tree, and they're not sprayed. I was thinking of using them like a bay leaf, torn, as I make a lot of broths and sauces. I love the kaffir lime leaves. Lemon leaves would also be good, I expect, although I have my lemongrass for that.

Suchin
ravisheela45_bigpond_com
13 years ago
i would love to know if anybody has tried other citrus leaves such as orangetree orcommonlemon leaves. please let me know aroma is same as kaffir lime leaf
tracydr
13 years ago
I substitute my lemon tree leaves for kafir lime leaves when making Thai dishes. It seems to work well. I just bruise the leaves a bit and get great flavor. I've also baked chicken wrapped in lemon leaves before and it's delicious.
David Swan
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Just because you have some vague information saying something is edible now doesn't mean you should jump right in and eat it... I would highly recommend using the universal edibility test so as not make yourself sick or worse. https://www.offgridweb.com/survival/the-universal-edibility-test/
otcay
6 years ago
Vietnamese cuisine includes certain dishes with raw lime leaves finely julienned. This is the typical accompaniment to chicken. At least lime leaves are edible.
Norberto Bautista
3 years ago
We use Kaffir lime leaves in cooking Thai chicken curry.