Dried Orange Peel substitute

Substitutes for Dried Orange Peel with ratios

1. 2Peel you dry yourself

   Close match

   Use the same amount once dried

   Pare the peel from two or three oranges, scrape off the white pith, and dry the strips skin-side up on a rack for two or three days in a warm dry spot or in a 170F oven for about an hour and a half until they snap rather than bend.

   What changes

   Crumble or grind them.

   Best for

   anything calling for dried orange peel, spice blends and mulling mixes, braises, homemade five-spice

   Fresher and considerably more aromatic than most commercial peel, and free from fruit you were going to eat anyway. Use unwaxed or organic oranges, or scrub them under hot running water first, since food-grade wax will not dry out. Sealed away from light it holds its aroma for six months or more.

2. 3Dried tangerine peel, or chen pi

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   The Chinese aged mandarin peel sold in Asian groceries, and the more sophisticated relative of the spice-aisle jar.

   What changes

   Best for

   Chinese braises and master stock, Sichuan beef, sweet red bean soup, duck and pork

   More bitter, darker and faintly medicinal in a good way, which makes it the better choice in any Chinese dish and slightly assertive in mulled wine or a sweet spice blend. Older, darker pieces are stronger, so start with less. Soak and scrape off any remaining pith to control the bitterness.

3. 4Dried lemon peel

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   The other dried citrus most likely to be in the cupboard, and a straight functional swap in dry blends and rubs.

   What changes

   Best for

   dry rubs, poultry and fish seasoning, spice blends, seasoning salts

   Sharper and less sweet, with none of orange's rounded warmth, so a mulling blend made with it tastes thin and slightly medicinal against the cinnamon and clove, while a chicken rub made with it tastes cleaner and brighter. Use it in savoury rubs and avoid it in mulled wine or a Christmas cake.

4. 5Orange extract, for wet mixtures only

   Taste and texture differ

   Use ¼ tsp extract for every 1 tsp dried peel, added near the end

   Concentrated orange oil in alcohol, which supplies the aroma with no solids and no slow release.

   What changes

   Best for

   sauces and glazes, batters and cakes, marinades, syrups

   It gives you all the smell at once instead of gradually, so in a two-hour braise it will simply cook away: add it in the last few minutes. Easy to overdo into something that tastes of orange squash, so start with half. Useless in a dry rub, where it dampens the mix.

5. 6Fresh orange zest plus a small piece of star anise

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tsp zest plus 1 small star anise for every 2 tsp dried peel

   A reconstruction rather than a match.

   What changes

   Dried peel gives a braise warmth plus a gentle bitterness, and this pairing supplies both from ingredients most kitchens have.

   Best for

   beef and pork braises, soy-braised dishes, duck, master stock

   The star anise adds a clear licorice note, welcome in a soy braise or a daube and wrong in a spice rub or a sweet bake. Take the star anise out after about 40 minutes if you do not want it to dominate, and add the zest at the end so it does not cook away.

6. 7Orange marmalade, for glazes and braises

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tbsp for every 1 tsp dried peel, and reduce the recipe's sugar

   Marmalade contains cooked peel, so it carries the right flavour including the bitterness, along with sugar and pectin.

   What changes

   Thick-cut Seville marmalade is the closest in character.

   Best for

   glazes for ham, duck and pork, braising liquids, sauces, cakes and puddings

   It brings a lot of sugar, so a glazed joint will brown and catch much faster and a braise will taste sweeter. Cut the recipe's sugar accordingly and watch the oven. It also adds liquid, which makes it unsuitable for any dry rub or stored spice blend.

7. 8Leave it out (the honest option)

   Different taste

   Omit; grate a little fresh zest over the finished dish

   In a braise or a spice blend with a long ingredient list, dried orange peel is a background note, and the dish will be perfectly good without it.

   What changes

   Best for

   stews and braises, barbecue rubs, roast vegetables, soups

   Do not skip it in mulled wine, a Provencal daube or Chinese five-spice style cooking, where the orange is one of only a handful of flavours and its absence leaves the drink or the braise tasting flat and one-dimensional. A strip of fresh peel takes ten seconds and covers you.