Here are a few new ones I've discovered while living in Japan!
Sumomo
| Miniature nectarines. Same great taste, slightly less mess. |
Akebi
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| Not too sure... I've seen fallen ones on mountain paths, but never tried it. |
Biwa
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| They taste a lot like pears, but with big seeds in the middle. |
Persimmons
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| Like sweet, orange tomatoes. I've never bought one, but have eaten dozens and dozens of them from people's gardens. A good, mild fruit! |
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| Alternatively, you can dry them for a sweet, candylike taste. This pic is a bit extreme, but you don't have to go far to see a house with cords of these hanging up outside in the fall. |
Lichi
| This is a popular flavor in Asia, but I'm not sure if people eat the fruit here. |
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| This Salt and Lichi drink would have rocked my socks off if I'd been wearing any. |
Yamaboushi
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| Mountain hats. They're a tart sort of berry with edible spikes. |
Yamamomo
| Mountain peaches. During a hike, some old ladies beckoned us over to try them on a wild tree. Good taste, but there was a big seed in the middle. |
And of course, I can't live in Tokushima without proudly telling you of our famous fruit:
Sudachi
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| Small citrus fruit. You can squeeze it on anything - chicken, rice, ice cream, alcohol. |
| Meet Sudachi-kun, our prefectural mascot! |
There are tons of other citrus fruits, especially in Shikoku where I live. Yuzu, mikan, buntan, decopon, amanatsumikan, etc. And yet with all this abundance of citrus, we still import our oranges from the good ole USA.
