kaffir lime plant

Asian cuisine will certainly be incomplete without these very aromatic leaves, a prime ingredient in curries, soups and stews. Although I don't think it's commonly used in Philippine cuisine, it's widely used in Thai, Indonesian and other Asian cuisine. We've had this plant for a few years now and so far it's still growing well. I've read that it can sometimes be difficult to get this plant to bear fruit but ours doesn't seem to have any problem at all. The kaffir lime zest is used for cooking and the lime also has medicinal uses as well.

kaffir limes (above) with their characteristic bumpy peel

It took us sometime to find this unusual lime plant since they don't really sell it in these big garden chain stores, and we had to go to a special local herbal and garden shop which sells more exotic plants. I remember we were told that some chefs in our touristy area come to their shop for this plant. Not very cold hardy, we have to take it to a more sheltered location when cooler temperatures set in but it's a lovely and interesting citrus plant that's a great addition to any garden or citrus plant collection.