Kaffir Lime (Citrus hystrix DC.)

Burmese	Shauk-nu, Shauk-waing
Chinese (Cantonese)	酸柑 [syùn gàm]
	Syun gam
Chinese (Mandarin)	酸柑 [suān gān]
	Suan gan
Czech	Kaffir citrus
Danish	Kaffir lime
Dutch	Kaffir limoen, Djeroek poeroet, Indonesische citroenboom
English	Indonesian lime leaves, Wild lime
Estonian	Kaffir laimilehed, Kahvrilaimipuu, Kombaava, Kahvrilaim
French	Limettier hérissé, Combava
German	Kaffernlimette, Indische Zitronenblätter, Indonesische Zitronenblätter, Kaffirzitrone, Kaffirlimette
Hebrew	עלי קפיר ליים
	Aley kafir laim, Ali qafir laym
Hungarian	Kaffir citrom és levél, Kaffercitrom
Indonesian	Daun jeruk purut
Hmong	Mav naus
Japanese	コブミカン, ライムリーフ
	Kobumikan, Raimu-rihu
Khmer	Kraunch soeuth, Slirk-krote sirk
Laotian	Kok mak khi hout
Malay	Daun limau purut (leaf), Limau purut (fruit)
Spanish	Hojas de Lima Cafre, Hojas de Lima Kaffir
Swedish	Kafirlime
Tamil	Nardanga
Thai	มะกรูด, มะกูด, ใบมะกรูด
	Makrut, Magrood, Makut, Magood; Bai makrut (leaves); Luuk makrut (fruits)
Vietnamese	Trúc
	Truc

Kaffir lime leaf

The leaves, which have a characteristic shape due to their winged petioles, which almost look like leaves themselves; if available, the fruits, especially the fruit skin, may also be used.

Rutaceae (citrus family). Within the genus Citrus, kaffir lime belongs to subgenus Papeda and is, therefore, less closely related to those species yielding the popular citrus fruits.

Strongly lemon-like. Although many people judge the fragrance crude, dominating and penetrating on first contact, most will find it uniquely refreshing after having grown accustomed to it.

The compound responsible for the characteristic aroma was identified as (-)-(S)-citronellal, which is contained in the leaf oil up to 80%; minor components are citronellol (10%), nerol and limonene.

Kaffir lime fruits

Form a stereochemical point of view, it is remarkable that kaffir lime leaves contain only (-)-(S)-citronellal, whereas the enantiomeric form (+)-(R) citronellal is found in both lemon balm and (to a lesser degree) lemon grass, (note, however, that citronellal is only a trace component in the latter's essential oil).

Kaffir lime fruit peel contains an essential oil comparable to lime fruit peel oil; main components are limonene and β-pinene.

South East Asia.

See also lemon and lime.

Frankly, I do not know why the “kaffir” lime is called so. The word “kaffir”, in English and many more European languages, is used as an offensive term for Blacks in general; historically, it was particularly applied to the Xhosa, a people indigenous in South Africa, in a xenophobic way. It comes from Arabic kafir [كافِر] “infidel, non-Muslim”, via obsolete Spanish and Portuguese cafre “barbarian”. The ultimate source is a Semitic root KPR “village”, with a derogatory connotation of backwardness. Apparently, the meaning “infidel” arose from an implication of retarded or incomplete Islamization in remote villages. Distantly related is Turkish gâvur “infidel”, which was entered English as an exotism giaour. Cf. also the German term Kaff (derogatory for “remote place, small village”), which might have Yiddish sources, although others derive it from Romany gāw “village”.

The species name hystrix (Greek hystrix [ὕστριξ] “porcupine”) refers to the many thorns of the plant.

Sorting Citrus names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Recipe: Tom Yum [ต้มยำ] (bigpond.com) Recipe: Tom Kha Kai [ต้มข่าไก่] (bigpond.com)