Preserved lemons are the ultimate flavor booster that will elevate your home cooking! All you need are lemons, salt, a jar, and time They add a brightness and depth of flavor to stews and soups, grain and legume salads, dressing, sauces, and more!
Stand the lemon up and slice down vertically, as if you were going to half the lemon, but don’t cut all the way through. Cut about 80% through to keep it attached at the base. Flip the lemon by 90º and repeat, as if you were going to quarter the lemon into wedges, but don’t cut all the way through. Pry open the lemon but do not detach it.
Pour a generous amount of salt and pack the salt into the crevices. I never measure this, but I’d estimate about a generous tablespoon of kosher salt per lemon. Squeeze the lemons shut as best you can. Repeat with the remaining lemons.
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to your glass jar to cover. Add a few lemons to the jar, then start pressing down on them with your muddler/spoon/pestle. The juices should start to flow out. During the first two weeks, once a day, gently tip the jar upside down once or twice. Leave to ferment for at least three weeks