All Your Kumquat Are Belong to Us

I have long been upfront about my love for kumquats. For those not familiar with kumquats, they are small citrus fruits, about the size of an olive or the end joint of one of my fat fingers:

I have an almost insatiable greed for kumquats, which aren't exactly the easiest fruits to find in a typical supermarket. I even went to the giant Korean supermarket up the road from me, and couldn't find any (I did eye the jackfruit for a good long while, and even gave the durian and glance and tentatively sniffed one, though it was refrigerated, so I couldn't distinguish any of its infamous aroma... with apologies to Mr Durian, I didn't buy one... this time). In my quest for kumquats, I stopped by the smaller Asian market, which I actually prefer, because I like their noodle selection better and they have my favorite brand fried bean curd. Luckily, they had kumquats in stock, and I bought them all:

Like I said, I have an almost insatiable greed for kumquats... and now I have two quarts of them.

The best way to characterize the flavor of a kumquat is to liken it to an inside-out orange... it has a thick, sweet rind and a bit of sour, astringent pulp. Eating a kumquat is almost a boozy affair... there's a hint of sweetness, a blast of astringency, then a sweet finish as you finish munching the rind. I brought some of the kumquats to work, and gave a few of them to my co-worker, who is also a food buff. He bit into one and said, "This is the natural equivalent of Sour Patch Kids." Now, that's a line worth stealing...