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| Sumo tangerines at Family Market |
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According to David Karp's LA Times article, they're a Japanese product originally called Dekopon and now grown in California through a consortium that actually grew them in secrecy starting in 2008. They're sold under the Sumo brand name.
According to me, they're delicious. The Sumo is a large, sweet fruit with lots of juice. The peel pulls away easily. The section have a skin so thin that it's almost like they're all pulp. You get a strong citrus flavor, less sweet than those tiny oranges and more flavor of great fresh-squeezed juice. The fruit have a distinctive bump at one end. They're cute enough to display, although they won't last long once you have tasted them.
Hat tip to the Keep It Up David blog where I found the link to the LA Times and David's recipe for a salad that uses the Sumo tangerines.
Check out Karp's article for more details and a better description. Then check out the fruit at Family Market (and maybe other Asian groceries?). Fruit that once cost $10 each in Japan now sells $8 for a nine-fruit box. Or they had packages of two in a refrigerated section for $1.50.
3 comments:
Just made it over there today...picked up some chick-n friends chicken and then stopped into family market. Garbed a box of the Sumos and you are right! They are wonderful! Juicy, easy to peel and really much larger than the cuties we have been eating all winter. Also, for those of you wondering, they are seedless. Thanks HowChow for again leading me in the right direction! Also as a side note....they are selling whole ribeyes (the large package you have to butcher yourself) for $3.99 a pound.
My granddaughter told me about your experience with Sumo(Dekopon) a.k.a. Shiranui mandarin. I have not taste the Sumo, yet, because I didn't realize that we have them around this area. I have a couple trees with a few fruits on them and I am going have to wait a while before I have a chance to taste it. I do intend to propagate them when it gets warmer. There is another one called "seedless Kishu" that is much sweeter than all the Cuties and Clementines in the market right now. These trees will be available soon probably before the Sumo.
Al Pong asianpearmd@verizon.net
My granddaughter bought a box of Sumo tangerines from Wegmans for me to try and I like it. Would I put it on top of the list for citrus, not yet, because I tasted the Kishu last year at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Citrus Expo and it is up there with the Sumo tangerine. Now, I just learn there is another one call “PIXIE” that is just as good if not better. I will reserve my judgment until I taste this one. As a matter of fact, I am going to order some to try and the “PIXIE” should be here after the 8th of April. If you are game, you are welcome to give it a try and if your readers wish to try it as well. Ask them to send me an email to reserve a sample that is limited.
I am going to start a grafting class shortly to graft cocktail fruit trees using basic grafting techniques most commonly used in the nursery industry today. The cocktail fruit trees are Asian pears, oriental persimmons, and citrus to include Dekopon. The citrus trees can be grafted year round whereas the other two are limited by the availability of bud woods. For more details, send me an Email: asianpearmd@verizon.net
Al
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