How to Zest Citrus

(instrumental jazz music)

I'm Kelly Senyai with epicurious.com

and this is how to zest citrus.

Some people like to use a vegetable peeler like this one

and this'll give you those long, beautiful strips of citrus

whether using lemons, limes, grapefruits,

or today I'm using oranges.

You'll often see that type of citrus in cocktails.

But today we're gonna be using a microplane.

Before you start zesting your citrus,

you wanna make sure you wash the fruit

and dry it thoroughly.

It often comes with a waxy coating

and you don't want any of that to be in the zest itself.

To zest an orange, simply run it along the microplane.

It's important that you turn the citrus

so that you don't continuously zest the same area

or you'll get too far down towards the pith

which is the white part

and that's really, really bitter.

And that's how to zest citrus.

For more recipes and tips, head over to epicurious.com

(gentle instrumental music)