Lemons In Makro

[james24]

Ive been looking for yellow lemons in Makro as someone said they are quite cheap there. However the one out near Big-C extra doesnt seem to have them, has anyone seen anywhere else that sells them rather than rimping?

[junglechef]

Saw them at Makro at Mae Rim Rd. on Friday

[noise]

If Rim Ping has them, then the open are markets should have them as a cheaper price.

[CPT]

If Rim Ping has them, then the open are markets should have them as a cheaper price.

I've never seen them in the open air markets here. Makro normally has them in the cold case in the produce section but I don't think I would class them as cheap, certainly not compared to the US.

[barefoot1988]

8-9 baht for smaller one in tops, 14 for big ones. is it cheap? not sure, i always buy there

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I don't believe they're grown in Thailand, and they are certainly only targetted to the rich and foreigners, which is why you won't find them in the normal markets.

I usually pay between ß60 and 80 baht per 100 for the normal Thai ones (I guess they really should be called "lime"? I consider anything over 1 baht to be expensive. The prices do wildly fluctuate not just seasonally but from one week to the next, so I usually buy two or three large sacks' worth when the price is right, usually lasts a while - I freeze the juice.

IMO the only reason to use yellow ones is if you need the color of the skin for presentation purposes, zest for decoration or fancy cocktails.

[Ricardo]

They also have a couple-of-rai of yellow "Hawaian lemons' growing at the organic-farm up at Prem.

[trainman34014]

You won't find them in local markets because the Thai's use Limes. They also often call a lime a lemon and if you look at the latest Makro leaflets they have a picture of limes marked up as lemons !

I buy my lemons in Tops as they seem to have the nicest ones and are cheaper than Rimping.

[el jefe]

afaik, they only grow the small round green "limes" here in thailand. Personally, I prefer them to lemons anyway but ymmv. They were pretty expensive at 8 baht each (3 for 20) in the Thanin Market today.

[MESmith]

We've got a couple of lemon trees. Doing a lot better than our lime tree ;-)

[CPT]

I am surprised that some farang seem to use "lime" to refer to both lime and lemon as the Thais do. Is this common in other countries?

In my part of the US, lemons are usually priced around 3 for $1 (30 baht). As has been noted here, foreigners are the only market for them here and, as they are imported, it's not surprising that they are more expensive. Limes are more expensive per piece than in Thailand but we use the larger, seedless Persian limes so they are worth it and are more competitively priced by weight. The small limes with seeds (like the ones in Thailand) are usually referred to as key limes and are more expensive as they are something of a specialty item (requisite for Key Lime Pie).

Lemons and limes are not interchangeable, different flavors different uses.

Edited March 11, 2012 by CPT

[junglechef]

I recently bought some lemons that were bad, must have been lemons

[Sparkles]

We've got a couple of lemon trees. Doing a lot better than our lime tree ;-)

Its strange that someone with some land has not latched onto the fact that there is a growing and profitable market for lemons in Thailand.They are very easy to grow. I used to give them away in Oz because most people had a lemon tree and you couldnt sell them in any quantity. Business opportunty for someone.In Makro,Hang Dong today, they have some in stock and 69 baht a kilo from memory.

[MESmith]

We've got a couple of lemon trees. Doing a lot better than our lime tree ;-)

Its strange that someone with some land has not latched onto the fact that there is a growing and profitable market for lemons in Thailand.They are very easy to grow. I used to give them away in Oz because most people had a lemon tree and you couldnt sell them in any quantity. Business opportunty for someone.In Makro,Hang Dong today, they have some in stock and 69 baht a kilo from memory.

Farmers don't make money, only the middlemen & the shops. Same in UK. My lemons are MINE ;-)

[el jefe]

I am surprised that some farang seem to use "lime" to refer to both lime and lemon as the Thais do. Is this common in other countries?

In my part of the US, lemons are usually priced around 3 for $1 (30 baht). As has been noted here, foreigners are the only market for them here and, as they are imported, it's not surprising that they are more expensive. Limes are more expensive per piece than in Thailand but we use the larger, seedless Persian limes so they are worth it and are more competitively priced by weight. The small limes with seeds (like the ones in Thailand) are usually referred to as key limes and are more expensive as they are something of a specialty item (requisite for Key Lime Pie).

Lemons and limes are not interchangeable, different flavors different uses.

I've never met a Thai or a farang that didn't know the difference between a lemon and a lime. It's just a difference in terminology and language. Thailand only has one. Whatever anyone wants to call it, it's the small round green one. And other than it's being round, I don't believe it's any closer related to Key Limes than any other lime.

And while lemons and limes are different and sometimes have different uses, in general they ARE interchangeable. Try using a lime (Thai or Persian) instead of an American lemon. It works great on fish, limeade, and hundreds of other uses.

[Throatwobbler]

Lemons are grown here. One of our neighbours has a huge lemon tree and wee got a bucket full of lemons for free last year. We now have a couple of cuttings which are doing very nicely.

I don't understand why they are not grown more commercially here though. Shortly after we got our free bubet of lemons my girlfriend and I were in Rimping and I showed her how much lemons cost. She couldn't believe how much we wanted to pay for them.

Maybe I need to start a lemon orchard. Bloody nasty trees though. Huge thorns on them.

[Sparkles]

Lemons are grown here. One of our neighbours has a huge lemon tree and wee got a bucket full of lemons for free last year. We now have a couple of cuttings which are doing very nicely.

I don't understand why they are not grown more commercially here though. Shortly after we got our free bubet of lemons my girlfriend and I were in Rimping and I showed her how much lemons cost. She couldn't believe how much we wanted to pay for them.

Maybe I need to start a lemon orchard. Bloody nasty trees though. Huge thorns on them.

Cuttings don't necessarily produce fruit,need to be on good root stock. have seen some established trees with fruit on at at the big plant/flower market near Tesco ,Super highway..good luck !

[butterisbetter]

The lemons at Makro come from China. I try to avoid produce from there. Rim Ping does sometimes carry locally grow lemons.

There really is quite a difference in flavor of lemon peel and lime peel. Not so marked in the juices

[barefoot1988]

differences between the peels. how about the juice? would my tartare sauce taste as good if i will to use lime instead of lime?

anyway is manao refering to lime or lemon?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

differences between the peels. how about the juice? would my tartare sauce taste as good if i will to use lime instead of lime?

anyway is manao refering to lime or lemon?

Think logically - the language reflects local reality. As far as Thais are concerned they haven't had the yellow varieties, so of course the Thai word means the round green ones. There are many Thai fruits that either don't have an English word, or they're only known to those with an academic interest in botany, food, agriculture etc.

Re your tartare sauce, IMO absolutely, I bet you couldn't find the difference in a blind taste test.

I am surprised that some farang seem to use "lime" to refer to both lime and lemon as the Thais do. Is this common in other countries?

...

Lemons and limes are not interchangeable, different flavors different uses.

I haven't come across the language point you raise, in fact often see "lemon" used interchangeably that way. I think it comes from being here so long, mentally translating from the primary language (Thai) where there's only one word used. I usually have to struggle to remember the English words for food that I wasn't aware of growing up, eg "rambutan" for ngo. But then I rarely speak English anymore except when I'm teaching it.

And I have to disagree with you about the difference in taste - I find that only true for the zest, and have successfully used the local lime juice for everything I'd use lemon juice for back home, averaging a bit under a litre per week.

Now orange juice is a different matter, very different taste, the local fresh-squeezed juice here is closer to tangerine I suspect.

Edited March 13, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK