Plant
Kaffir lime
Citrus hystrix
Also known as: Citrus hystrix, makrut lime
A small citrus tree native to maritime Southeast Asia, producing intensely aromatic bumpy-skinned green fruits and the famous double-lobed leaves that are foundational to Thai, Cambodian, Lao, Indonesian, and Malaysian cuisine. The leaves and zest carry the species' flavor; the juice is rarely used — the bumpy fruit is mostly pith with little juice. The English common name 'kaffir lime' has come under linguistic re-examination — *kaffir* is a slur in southern African contexts — and 'makrut lime' (the Thai name) is increasingly preferred.
Scientific
Citrus hystrix is in Citrus — closely related to the ancestral papeda species rather than to the cultivated mandarin / pomelo lineages that produced [[orange]], [[lemon]], and [[lime]]. The leaves are distinctive: they grow as a double leaflet, with one small narrow upper leaf joined to a larger lower leaf at the same point on the stem.
The flavor compounds are concentrated in the leaves and the bumpy fruit zest, not the juice. The principal aromatic is (−)-citronellal, which gives the species its intense floral-citrus signature.
Cultural and culinary
Foundational to mainland Southeast Asian cuisine:
- Thai — the leaves are essential in tom yum, tom kha, green and red curry pastes, fish cakes (tod mun pla), and countless other dishes
- Cambodian — central to kroeung curry paste
- Lao — laap (salads) and stews
- Malaysian / Indonesian — rendang, sambal, and many curry pastes
- Vietnamese — less central than in Thailand but present in some southern preparations
The leaves are typically used whole (added at the start of cooking; sometimes left in or removed before serving), torn (to release oils into the dish), or sliced into thin slivers (added at the end).
Name controversy
“Kaffir” is a slur of South African colonial origin used against Black South Africans. The application of the word to this citrus species likely traces from European colonial usage in the 19th–20th centuries. There is no clear etymological connection between the slur and the plant — the term may have come from Arabic kafir (non-Muslim) via Sri Lankan or Indonesian usage — but the unfortunate similarity has led many writers, cookbooks, and farmers’ markets to adopt makrut lime (the Thai name) as the standard alternative. The Oxford English Dictionary added a usage note in 2008.
Global production
Top producers: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Enables: [[food-sovereignty]]
- Shares approach with: [[galangal]] · [[lemongrass]] · [[bay-laurel]]
- Member of: [[plants]] · [[thai-aromatic-trinity]]
- Cousin of: [[lime]] · [[lemon]] · [[yuzu]] · [[buddhas-hand]] · [[bergamot]]
Sources
- Wikipedia — Kaffir lime
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
cousin of
- Orange auto-linked via shared tag: citrus
Cultural
shares approach with
- Galangal The third leg of the Thai aromatic base — kaffir-lime leaf, galangal, lemongrass appear together in nearly every Thai curry paste and aromatic broth.
General
shares approach with
- Lemongrass auto-linked via shared tag: southeast-asia
3 inbound links · 11 outbound