Preserved Kumquats with Salt

Experiment: Preserved Kumquats with Salt

Introduction:

I never really liked preserved kumquats when I was young, because... they're REALLY salty.  Little did I know that preserved kumquats with salt is actually REALLY good for your throat.  When my co-worker decided to make her own preserved kumquats last year, I thought... "Oh maybe I should make my own too!"  Yet... when I finally made up my mind to make it, the kumquat season was over.  This year when I saw kumquats in a produce store, I bought it right away to make my own preserved kumquats.

Materials:
Kumquats
Salt (I use sea salt)
Glass jar

Procedure:
1) Wash the glass jar and the kumquats, air dry the kumquats.
2) Cover the bottom of the glass jar with salt, then put a few kumquats in.
3) Pour salt over the first layer of kumquats, then put the second layer of kumquats in.
4) Just keep on layering salt and kumquats until you reach the top of the jar.  Make sure that the top layer of kumquats is completely covered with salt. 
5) Close the lid and put it in a dark and cool place.  It'll be ready in a few years.  (Yes!  A few years!)

Result:

Discussions:

1) I used coarse sea salt and fine sea salt for this jar... Well... it's because I ran out of coarse sea salt! :P  But I think you can use either coarse or fine for preserving kumquats.  (You can sorta see the difference of the course and fine sea salt in the picture above)
2) You can use table salt for this.
3) People say, "The longer you preserve them, the better they'll be."  Apprently there are some 50+ years kumquats out there and they're still edible.  But... do you dare try?
4) Keep an eye on the preserved kumquats.  My other co-worker made a jar, but then later since the kumquats shrank, and the kumquats were exposed to the air... they molded. 

Conclusion:
There's no conclusion yet... since the preserved kumquats won't be ready til a few years later...

Reference:
- I think most Hong Kong families have at least a jar at home... so I'm just trying this out.