Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

Umeboshi calamansi lime juice is a refreshing drink popular in Asia, made with calamansi limes and sour plums aka umeboshi over ice.

Back in February of this year, I went to my Costco and discovered several pallets of citrus trees right outside the front door. To my absolute amazement, one of them was a calamansi lime! The tag had a different name and the peels were orange instead of green, but I’d know that aroma anywhere after living in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia for a combined total of 13 or 14 years.

There were only a few left so I did not hesitate and put one in my shopping cart right away. Then a funny thing happened. I was stopped repeatedly by other customers as I did the rest of my shopping, wanting to know where I’d found the tree! Apparently, there were none left up front. One Asian woman even questioned why I needed it. I guess she was hoping I’d hand it over? Who knows!

Anyhoo, I planted the baby in the ground in my backyard and it rewarded me with a decent crop of little limes, as seen below. Crossing my fingers it will do the same again in the next few months. 

Depending on the country, this delicious drink is called different names. In Malaysia where I ordered it often, it’s known as limau kasturi asam boi or usually just limau asam boi, but it’s always made with calamansi or kasturi limes. 

And for those who are curious, normal green limes are called limau nipis in Malay. Just limau means lemon. 

Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

If you aren’t fortunate enough to be able to source the calamansi limes you can make this with regular ones (skip blending the peels!) but you’ll need more sugar to counterbalance the tartness of the juice. 

Ingredients to serve two:

2 teaspoons sugar

6 calamansi limes

2 umeboshi or dried sour plums

Ice cubes

Method

Add 1 teaspoon sugar and one sour plum into each glass. Pour in 1/4 cup or 60ml hot water in each to dissolve the sugar and steep the sour plums.

Wash the limes and cut them in half. 

Remove the seeds and squeeze the juice into a large measuring cup or bowl.

Use a metal straw or spoon to mash the plums in the glasses a little. 

In a blender or food processor, blend the lime peels with 2 tablespoons of the squeezed juice.  

Strain through a sieve into your measuring cup or bowl, pressing gently with a spoon to get all the juice out. Discard the peels. 

Divide the juice between the glasses and add ice cubes.

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 21th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter U. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the U recipes below:

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Upside Down Bacon Pancake
• Food Lust People Love: Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice
• Sneha’s Recipe: Upside Down Apricot Bundt
• A Messy Kitchen: Apple Bourbon Upside Down Cakeu
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Ube Pandesal
• Blogghetti: Jumbo Upside Down Pineapple Muffins
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Udon Noodle Salad
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Black Forest Upside Down Cake
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Chunky Pumpkin Ancho Unsweetened Cocoa Chili

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 

E. Whipped Espresso Cream 

F. Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken 

G. Extra Herby Gremolata 

H. Smoked Herring Spread 

I.  Fresh Cherry Ice Cream 

J. Small Batch Strawberry Jam 

K. Kiwi Tomato Feta Salad 

L. Lobster Butter 

M. Milk-Roasted Chicken 

N. Nocciolata Swirl Meringues 

O. Jersey Octopus Ceviche 

P. Easy Pastina Soup 

Q. Shrimp and Quail Egg Garden Salad 

R. Celeriac Mash with Scallop Roe Butter 

S. Fresh Scallop Sashimi 

T. Roasted Chicken Thighs with Stuffing 

U. Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice– this post! 

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Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks

These garlic rosemary lamb shanks simmer in a slow cooker with beef stock, red wine and onions until they are so meltingly tender that you won’t need a knife! Carrots and potatoes cooked with the shanks round out the meal. 

Years ago, I was watching a Nigella Lawson program where she was roasting a lamb shank for one. That’s a cut I had never bought but, like everything she does, Nigella made it look so easy. 

I promptly forgot about it until I found a large shank (big enough for two) in my local grocery store and I made my purchase. Just like Nigella said, it roasted beautifully! You can see that recipe here. (It’s one I posted in my first six months of blogging before I learned a little more about photography. I leave those posts up because it’s part of the journey and, honestly, pretty photos or not, the food is delicious.) 

Ever since, I almost always have a couple of lamb shanks in the freezer, just in case. On cold and windy days, slow cooker garlic rosemary lamb shanks with potatoes and carrots are a warming hearty meal.

Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks

Sometimes I remove the lamb, carrots and potatoes and thicken the broth to make gravy and sometimes I serve it au jus, not thickened. I’ve included the instructions for making gravy but either way, this is a delicious meal. The longer you can leave the lamb to marinate, up to 24 hours, the better. This feeds two generously, with leftovers.

Ingredients

2 lamb shanks

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Leaves from 2-3 sprigs rosemary, plus a little extra for garnish, if desired

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for slow cooker

2 medium onions, peeled and sliced

1 3/4 cup or 414ml beef stock

1 cup or 240ml dry red wine

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut in chunks

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks

To thicken the gravy:

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cold water

Method

Score the lamb shanks with a sharp knife then season the shanks with salt and pepper all over, rubbing it in with your clean hands. 

Mince the garlic and rosemary leaves, discarding the stems. Sprinkle on the garlic and rosemary, massaging them in as well. 

Place both lamb shanks is a Ziploc bag, then pour the cider vinegar and olive oil over them. Seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Chill for up to 24 hours. 

When you think about it, give the lamb bag a massage ot two and turn it over during the marinating time. 

Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of the slow cooker, then line it with the onion slices.

Add in your lamb shanks and any marinade from the bag, along with the beef stock and red wine.

Cook on high for 2 hours then switch to low for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

When the lamb has one more hour, add in the carrots and potatoes, tucking them as much as possible in the cooking liquid.

When the time is up, check the lamb with a fork. If it goes in really easily, the lamb is tender. If not, set your timer for another 30 minutes or so.  

When the lamb shanks are done, remove them along with the carrots and potatoes from the slow cooker and cover all to keep warm. 

 

Switch the slow cooker to high again. 

Mix the cornstarch into the cold water then add the mixture to the slow cooker, stirring well. Cook until thickened slightly. The result is a lovely rich onion gravy.

Serve the lamb, carrots and potatoes with the savory gravy, garnished with a little chopped rosemary, if desired.

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and our theme today is Crocktober, aka recipes made in a slow cooker or cooked long and slow in an oven or on stovetop. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm and Camilla of Culinary Cam. 

• Braised Beef Cheeks over Garlic Gnocchi by Culinary Cam
• Crockpot Orange Chicken by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Garlic Rosemary Lamb Shanks by Food Lust People Love
• Keto Masala Beef Steaks by Sneha's Recipe
• Leftover Kabob Fajitas by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peppered Short Ribs by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apple Oats by Our Good Life
• Slow Cooker Chili con Carne by Palatable Pastime

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Double Chocolate Guinness Muffins #MuffinMonday

The deep flavor of stout enhances the chocolate in these rich double chocolate Guinness muffins baked with cocoa and lots of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I’ve been on a bit of a savory muffin kick lately but our younger daughter is here to visit so I decided I’d go sweet this month. I bought a 500ml bottle of Guinness Extra Stout for these muffins but also ended up using it for marinated chicken thighs and then the balance in a steak pie at her request. 

All three turned out beautifully and now I need to keep Guinness on hand all the time. You know, just in case. 

Double Chocolate Guinness Muffins

As mentioned above and indicated by the title, I used Guinness Extra Stout for this recipe but you can absolutely substitute your favorite stout. This recipe makes 12 regular sized muffins, chock full of chocolate chips. This recipe is adapted from one on Floating Kitchen.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups or 219g all-purpose flour

3/4 cups or 150g golden caster sugar (Sub white if that's what you have)

1/4 cup or 20g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup or 113g, butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for buttering pan, if needed

1/2 cup or 120ml Guinness stout beer

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups or 300g semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or brush with melted butter. (Or if you have silicone muffin cups, use them. I love mine which were a gift from my daughter.) Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, Guinness and eggs until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold.

Set aside a generous handful of the chocolate chips to sprinkle on top then fold the rest into the batter. 

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cups of your prepared muffin pan. Top with the reserved chocolate chips. 

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Allow the muffins to cool in their pan for about 10 minutes, then remove and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month which means it’s Muffin Monday time! Check out all the lovely muffins my baker friends are sharing. 

• Banana Oreo Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Chunky Monkey Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coconut Bran Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Double Chocolate Guinness Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. 

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