Kumquats always make me think of places far, far, east – places I’ve never been. Chinese 5 spice powder, or some variation of it, is ubiquitous in that part of the world. Using that as a jumping off point, this is what I did:
Well actually, hold on, let’s back up. First, I climbed to the top of my larder, reached behind the skull and crossbones sign, careful not to disturb the trap, and pulled out my secret chile basket.
Yes peeps, this is my basket full-o’-hot-gold gathered from around the globe. There’s more underneath, but what you can see is Aleppo-style pepper from Turkey, white peppercorns from Kerala, New Mexican chile powder, the whole red chiles are from a particularly succulent bush from thine own garden, and, ok, there’s some real cinnamon from Sri Lanka on the side there. But, what you really want to know about is the two bags in the front, brought back by yours truly from Bhutan, where it’s called local pepper, but what’s otherwise known as Szechuan pepper.
Or you can omit it all together and you will still have a very lovely tasting chutney. You can just call it 4 Spice Kumquat Chutney and no one will be the wiser.
5 Spice Kumquat Chutney
Ingredients
1 & 1/2 pounds kumquats (preferably organic)
1 large head garlic, cloves peeled
4 inch slice of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 & 1/2 pounds yellow onions, peeled and chopped fine
2 cups pitted and chopped dates
2 & 3/4 cups raw cane sugar (or any light brown sugar)*
3 cups white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sea salt
1/2 dried red chile (or 1 whole if they’re small)
4 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon whole Szechuan pepper
1/4 inch piece of a cinnamon stick
1 whole star anise
1/2 pint or smaller mason jars
Yield: approximately 3 pints
Directions
1. Prepare your canning jars and lids. No need to sterilize as you will be processing for 10 minutes.
2. Slice the little stem end off each kumquat, slice them in half lengthwise, quarter the larger ones, then slice each piece in half across. As you do this discard the larger seeds, don’t worry about the smaller ones they are edible. Place them in your non-reactive (enameled iron or stainless steel) preserving pot as you go, so you catch all of the juice.
3. In a small food processor or blender, add the garlic and ginger and grind to a paste. Otherwise chop them both fine. Add garlic-ginger paste to your preserving pot, along with the chopped onions.
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4. Use that same lovely gadget or a mortar & pestle to grind the chile, cloves, Szechuan pepper, and cinnamon to a powder. Leave the star anise whole. Add the spices to the pot along with the chopped dates, sugar, salt and white wine vinegar. Heat on medium low until the sugar melts. Then turn up the heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling turn the heat down a bit, just enough to keep things rolling at a steady boil. It should take 20-30 minutes for your chutney to cook down to the desired consistency. Stir as you go, and stir more often as it begins to thicken. At 10 minutes of boiling, discard the whole star anise, if you leave it in too long, it will permeate the chutney and drown out the other spices.
You will know it’s done when you can run a wooden spoon across the bottom and the chutney hovers on either side before covering the bottom of the pan up once again. Remember it will thicken upon cooling, so don’t let it get too thick while you’re cooking. As long as you can see the bottom of the pan clearly in the wake of the spoon, you’re good.
6. Hot water bath process filled jars for 10 minutes. Chutneys are best if left to rest for 2-3 weeks before eating, and last a full 2 years in the larder without any change in quality.
This chutney is flavor-packed. It’s a winner on soft cheeses, in between buttery pressed bread and runny cheddar, and as a side to anything stir-fried up in a wok.