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Fruits · Citrus

Sour (Seville) orange juice

Juice of the bitter Seville orange: sour and aromatic, used to marinate meat in Haiti, Cuba, the Yucatán and beyond.

Also called: sour orange, seville orange juice, bitter orange juice, naranja agria, zoranj si

Around the world: naranja agria (es) · zoranj si (ht) · orange amère (fr)

A kind of orange juice

1 recipe with it

What it is

The juice of Citrus aurantium, a rough-skinned orange that is too sour and bitter to eat raw. It is as tart as lime with a floral orange aroma. Caribbean and Latin American shops sell it fresh as naranja agria and also bottled.

Citrus × aurantium

How it’s used

  • Marinating pork for Haitian griot and Cuban lechón
  • Making mojo sauce
  • Seasoning Yucatecan cochinita pibil with achiote

Characteristics

Taste
Sharply sour with a bitter orange edge.
Aroma
Floral and orange-scented.
Sold as
liquid, fresh
Cooking uses
Usually eaten raw, Commonly cooked, Mainly a seasoning

Storage

Refrigerated. Use fresh juice within 2–3 days; whole fruit keeps for weeks in the fridge. Freeze juice in portions.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
45 kcal
Protein
0.7 g
Carbohydrate
10.4 g
Fat
0.2 g
Fibre
0.2 g
Sugars
8.4 g

USDA FoodData Central: Orange juice, raw (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) (a close stand-in).

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Orange juice — Mix 2 parts orange juice with 1 part lime juice.

Related ingredients

Recipes with sour (seville) orange juice

  • Delicious deep-fried pork bites on tissue paper, capturing their crispy texture and golden color.

    Griot

    Haitian · 5 h 55 min · 524 kcal

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