Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Dekopan


Last year while on a tour in Japan I saw these oranges at a bus stop market. I was curious about them but thought they were too expensive so I passed them up. I later regretted that I didn't buy even one.
dekopan

Fast forward to last week. My sister Didi texted all us sisters and included this photo to let us know that Envy apples were on sale at Times. The oranges in the background though is what really caught my eye, and  I wondered if they were the same type as the ones that I saw in Japan. 
sumo

They are!! They're called Sumo Citrus (aka Dekopan), a mandarin and naval orange hybrid that took a grower in Japan 30 years to create. You can read about them here
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I didn't get to try it until yesterday, and I promise . . . the exact words outta my mouth after the first bite were, "OH. MY. GOD."  Like the article in the link above says, it is quite probably the sweetest citrus I've ever eaten. 
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Unfortunately, I only bought one. I'm not sure if this is the correct price or if the cashier made a mistake, but first thing tomorrow I'm gonna buy some more on my way to work. 
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BTW, you'll see the celery, carrots and string beans in tomorrow's blog post. 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

dang, that might be a mistake by the cashier. those dekopon sell from $3.59 EACH at marukai and $2.99 EACH at Nijiya, and $3.59 or $3.89 at whole foods, safeway, foodland. If you're lucky, you can find the end of the batch a couple weeks or so later for $1.89 or so. I'm rushing off to times right now to check out your price!!!

I just bought a couple in Osaka, one for 500 yen that was huge, like grapefruit size, but it was tart and dry. Then I bought a couple smaller ones for 128 yen each, but they were also disappointing. The ones we get here from CA seemed juicier and sweeter, but you do get some tart ones/dry ones too.

We've been buying them locally for past couple years and although they're supposed to be seedless, we are so excited to find seed because I've started growing several hoping to get some trees. Since the strain is copyrighted or trademarked, it is impossible to find plants. What I worry about is the write ups say the seed grow true to the fruit it came from so I hope if and when mine fruit, it won't have seeds!

V

Kay said...

OK OK, I'll keep my eyes open for them. I thought I saw something like that recently but opted not to get it because it wasn't cheap. However, now you've got my mouth watering.

Kay said...

The sumos are $4.99 at don qui!!!

Anonymous said...

J: I bought 'em at Times too but I haven't eaten them yet (not a big fruit eater)...definitely will try them. I like more sweet than tart. I love s. beans so looking forward to your next post! -N

K and S said...

dekopon are so good!

Honolulu Aunty said...

Not sure but they look like the ones my Kauai friend has in her yard - tangelos. Super sweet and juicy. We used to roll them around and squish them whole and then stick a straw in it and drink the delicious juice.

Looking forward to your post about your vegetables!

jalna said...

V, you're right the cashier made a mistake. As you probably know by now, they were actually on sale for $2.99/pound. Too bad the ones you got in Japan were disappointing. Good luck with your plants!!!

$4.99 Kay!! OMG!

N, it was so sweeeeet! Like eating the canned kine.

I'm so glad I tried it, Kat.

Ooooh, that sounds so good, Aunty!

Leslie's pics said...

so worth 350Y...i'm gonna look for it and see if it's yummier in japan! :)

jalna said...

Good luck, Les!

Susan said...

I'll keep a look out for those!

jalna said...

You'll like it, Susan!

mmiissee said...

Have you tried the Red oranges from Costco?
It's sweet.