Japanese Apples

[stumptwngardener]

A friend recently told me about an apple he received as a gift while living in Japan. He said it was an apple that had been injected with honey while it was still growing on the tree. I am interested in trying this with some of my own apples growing at my house.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Does anyone know how to perform this interesting food act?

[torakris]

ooohhh! I have eaten these, they are incredible! The honey actually drips out when you cut them open. I didn't realize they were injected with honey, I thought it was just the type of apple and the way they were grown...

I'll see what I can find.

[Hiroyuki]

Phew! In that case, I have to disappoint you . I think that it is just a joke or a simple misunderstanding. Even some Japanese seem to believe or suspect that apples are "injected" with "honey", but this is totally false.

Click the following and look at the picture of a halved apple:

http://www.janis.or.jp/users/azumino1/saik...mame/honey.html

(Japanese only)

The two arrows show where syrup, or "mitsu" 蜜 in Japanese, is located. This syrup is not honey but sorbitol, a type of sugar, resulting from plant photosynthesis. "Mitsu" is likely to appear in late varieties such as Fuji.

To your surprise, the portion with "mitsu" is LESS sweet than other portion of the apple. Mitsu disappears overtime because sorbitol changes into fructose, which is SWEETER.

Other websites describing that it is false that apples are injected with honey:

http://www.yrd.or.jp/nitibeni/apple.htm

http://www.uranai-fan.com/ringo/mitsuiri.htm

(Both in Japanese only)

[torakris]

Hiroyuki,

Thanks for the links, I too was quite surprised when I read the initial question saying they were injected with honey as I had never heard that and obviously honey doesn't grow in apples!

I mentioned them in the Fruit in Japan thread:

Though the cheap apples are never going to have this honey like sryup dripping out of the middle when you cut them like these very expensive apples I have eaten.

[stumptwngardener]

My friend who told me about this wasn't suprised that the story of the honey injected apple wasn't true. In all of his conversations with people in Japan (when he lived there years ago) no one ever suggested that the honey story was a possible fabrication. He also suggested that there were lots of "urban myths" that he came across while he lived there that no one seemed to question.

Thanks for your time and effort looking into this for me!

Dan in Portland, Oregon USA

[Palladion]

When I first arrived in Japan, I was ovejoyed to find that fuji apples were readily available here. They were my favorite apple in the USA, they possess a wonderful balance of sweet and tart, are almost always perfectly crunchy, and they keep very well in a refrigerator (important for a college student).

But the fuji apples in Japan seemed to fall far short of this mark. First warning sign was their weight. They didn't weigh nearly enough for their size. This worried me a lot, but after craving a good apple for a long time, I ended up buying some. They weren't nearly dense enough and their tartness seemed mysteriously missing. But what mostly bothered me was that the crispness was gone, replaced by a soft, light, and open (almost mealy) texture more reminscent of bad red delicious apples I've eaten in the US. Some of the ones that I bought had rotten cores as well. That put me off apples here for a while, and I ate other fruits.

Recently though, a roadside fruit and vegetable seller in my city had some bruised apples on sale for 20 yen each. But they smelled excellent and felt nice and heavy for their size, so I picked up 5 fuji and 5 ourin apples. Once I scraped past the bruised bits just under the skin, I revealed good, crisp, tasty apple flesh. I don't know if it has to do with the season (I thought I had tried the Fuji apples while they were in season, when they were plentiful and cheap at the local stores).

I was impressed with the Ourin apples. I was hoping for something similiar to a Granny Smith apple, for variety, but found them somewhere in between a fuji apple and a golden delicious. I have a Japanese cookbook that says that they are a cross between a golden delicious and a "delicious". (I thought there were only red and golden delicious? Argh, I don't know nearly enough about apples.) Since then, I've been buying bags of these apples from the local supermarket, and they've all been good. Tomorrow I'm probably going to take a look at the Fuji apples at the local store and buy one or two if they are the right density. I want to see how the current ones fare.

I also just recently tried a Mutsu apple. I've only eaten one so far, so I really shouldn't judge them yet, as I've found produce quality to vary very widely in Japan, even from day-to-day, same produce at the same store. Anyway, it was somewhat soft, but had a nice dense texture; it wasn't mealy. Mostly I was struck by an interesting fruity overtone, something that I've not encountered with the regular American varieties. It came in more as a smell than a taste. I'll need to pick up some more of these to do some more experimentation. (I bought it from a little open-air market-ish-style fruit and vegetable shop I found over the weekend. I was also excited because they had small bags of sweet red onions for 100 yen, a lot cheaper than buying them at the local supermarkets).

So, anyone else care to share their experiences with apples in Japan? I'm only slowly learning about foods here (and, heck, foods in general).

-Alex

[torakris]

A little bit on apples from the Daily Nihongo thread

ふじりんご

fuji ringo (foo-jee-rhingo)

Fuji apple

This is considered the King of apples in Japan and sales account fot 51% of the apple market. Available most of teh year the Fuji is a cross between a Kokkou and Delicious apples.

The Fuji:

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ple/fuji.h2.jpg

つがる

tsugaru

The tsugaru apple, a cross between the golden delicious and kougyoku apples, entered the markets in the mid 70's and is currently the #2 apple in the country. It is an early season apple appearing in late August and continuing through winter.

This is my favorite. biggrin.gif

tsugaru apple

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple4.jpg

紅玉　こうぎょく

kougyoku (koe-gyo-koo)

One of the first apples in Japan, this came from New York and is excellent for eating out of hand as well as for cooking.

kougyoku:

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple6.jpg

世界一　　せかいいち

sekaiichi (say-kye-ee-chee)

Sekai means world and ichi means one or first, so these apples are called "best in the world". Aomori-ken (prefecture) is famous for these apples that are a cross between delicious and golden delicious. On the market since the mid 70's these are some of teh biggest apples around, they average at about 400-600 grams (about 1 lb) but can be as big as 1 kg (over 2lbs)!

http://images.egullet.com/u6134/i3091.jpg

ジョナゴールド

jyonagoorudo (jyo-nah-goh-rhue-doe)

Joni-Gold

This apple, a cross between the golden delicious and the kougyoku, appeared on the markets in the early 70's.

picture:

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple8.jpg

王林　　おうりん

ourin (oh-rheen)

If you see a green apple in Japan it is probably this. The ourin has been in Japan for close to 50 years and despite its resemblance to the the Granny Smith apple it is not tart at all.

ourin:

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ple/apple10.jpg

千秋

senshuu (sen-shoe)

This is a great eating apple from Akita prefecture, with a nice balance of sweet and tart. It can be hard to find though.

picture:

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple5.jpg

北斗　　ほくと

hokuto (hoe-koo-toe)

This is a larger than average sized apple from Aomori prefecture, it was created in the early 80's as the cross of a Fuji.

http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/syokutaku/img1053812209.jpeg

むつ

mutsu (moo-tsu)

These are some of the oldest apples in Japan and are mostly from Aomori prefecture. They come in two colors red and yellow and they are very noticable in the stores because there are no other colors really like them. The red is actually more of a pink and the yellow is really yellow.

The picture I found doesn't really show them at their best colors sad.gif :

http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple9.jpg

NOTE*

don't try to impress someone while speaking by adding the honorable "o" to the beginning of this word, because then you will be talking about diapers.....omutsu biggrin.gif

クラブりんご

kuraburingo (koo-rah-boo-rheen-goh)

crabapples, there are a couple different types in Japan we will look at them over the next couple days.

ヒメりんご

This crabapple is rarely seen in stores, its most popular use is more making ringo-ame (apple-candy) or candied apples. These are popular during festivals when they are sold from stands:

Here is a great picture of both the stand and the candied apple:

http://enenen-web.hp.infoseek.co.jp/eat0ringo.htm

アルプス乙女

arupusu otome (ah-rhue-pooh-sue-oh-toe-may)

This is the most popular crabapple for eating out of hand, these ping pong ball sized apples start appearing on supermarket shelves around October.

http://www.tsuji.ac.jp/hp/zai/gif/arupu.gif

[jhlurie]

I know the reluctance against imports, but Apples would seem to be a natural import for Japan--especially the hearty breeds which can stand up to it like Granny Smith.

Does Japan import apples at all? Is it cost effective, I wonder, even if it's allowed?

The Joni-Gold torakris talks about sounds a lot like the Jonagold apple, which is a cross between a Jonathan Apple and a Golden Delicious.

[torakris]

Alex, I have had the same problems with the mealy apples and it really gets frutrating because I am a crispy apple person.

I just recently bought these wonderful fuji apples from my co-op, they were smaller than the typical Japanese apple and said on the package they to be eaten skin and all out of hand. I found that interesting in a country where everyone peels their apples and then slices them before eating.

There were damn good apples though, unfortunately I was only able to purchase two bags before they disappeared.

[jhlurie]

Wow, that's like peeling a grape. I know people do it, but the idea seems a bit... odd.

[Hiroyuki]

Cheap ones are often mealy, and expensive ones are just too sweet. For me, that's a big problem.

Quite surprisingly, though, my wife calls mealy ones "boke ringo" (senile apples) and loves them.

[smallworld]

I know the reluctance against imports, but Apples would seem to be a natural import for Japan--especially the hearty breeds which can stand up to it like Granny Smith.

Does Japan import apples at all? Is it cost effective, I wonder, even if it's allowed?

Apparently it's been tried before, with American apples. And considering I've never seen a single import, it must have been a failure.

I think the American apples were just too sour. People here in Japan like their fruit sickly sweet (these is a major pet peeve of mine) and don't seem to appreciate tartness or crispness.

[helenjp]

New Zealand persuaded Japan to relax laws restricting imports of pip and stone fruit, and began exporting apples to Japan a few years ago, and the US followed suit within 12 months. However the US has the disadvantage of having apples in season at the same time as Japan - add shipping time, and US apples are coming on market right at the peak supply period for Japan's main crop.

However, I wonder if other factors such as the rather high US dollar in recent years has also made a difference?

I do occasionally see NZ apples, but not that many. Hard to say if they are here or not, as my local supermarket seems to be stocking an increasingly restricted range of goods.

[smallworld]

New Zealand persuaded Japan to relax laws restricting imports of pip and stone fruit, and began exporting apples to Japan a few years ago, and the US followed suit within 12 months. However the US has the disadvantage of having apples in season at the same time as Japan - add shipping time, and US apples are coming on market right at the peak supply period for Japan's main crop.

However, I wonder if other factors such as the rather high US dollar in recent years has also made a difference?

I do occasionally see NZ apples, but not that many. Hard to say if they are here or not, as my local supermarket seems to be stocking an increasingly restricted range of goods.

Great, I'll be on the lookout for some crisp, tart imported apples.

(They will be crisp and tart, right? Or will the US and New Zealand growers purposely select the old mealy ones to send?)

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Is there any way to tell what the country of origin is on the apples?

As for apples getting imported, I don't know, hardly anything tastes as good like that compared to getting it locally grown.

I know much of our cherry crop goes to Japan as well, though I have no idea how good they are by the time they get into stores. Washington state = Rainier cherries, which I see Japanese tourists here buy up with great excitement when the season hits.

Pat

Edited June 3, 2004 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[torakris]

Is there any way to tell what the country of origin is on the apples?

The place of origin should be posted somewhere, either on the package or on the little sgn at the store that shows the price and other information.

If you buy them from my co-op catalogue they even have pictures of the farmer who grew them!

[Palladion]

A little bit on apples from the Daily Nihongo thread...

Wow, I haven't read through that whole thread yet, but this just reminds me how much I really should at some point soon. You've put a ton of great information in there.

Fuji apple

This is considered the King of apples in Japan and sales account fot 51% of the apple market. Available most of teh year the Fuji is a cross between a Kokkou and Delicious apples.

Interesting. All of the American sources that I've read talk say that the Fuji is a cross between a Ralls Janet and a Red Delicious. I wonder if the Kokkkou is just the Japanese name for the Ralls Janet.

I found a links with more information (in English or Japanese) and pictures about Japanese apples:

http://www.anc-tv.ne.jp/~apple/

The link is from a Nagano orchard. I noticed this snippet as particularly interesting:

With only Jonagold and Jonathan as overseas varieties that have made an impact in Japan until now there is interest from growers in new varieties from outside Japan. We will accept new varieties from overseas in future with and I believe that these new varieties will change the apple industry in Japan.

Edited June 3, 2004 by Palladion (log)

[Hiroyuki]

I really didn't know why, but my daughter (5) kept saying for a few days that she wanted to eat apples. Today, I went shopping with my son and daughter, and bought some apples because she wanted them. When we got home, I asked my daughter how she would like to eat them, and she said, "You will know that when you look at this." She showed me this book. Now I know why she wanted to eat apples in the first place.

[smallworld]

Cute!

[AzianBrewer]

Those Fuji Riingo are huge!!! Are you sure they didn't juiced that them with steriod?

[prasantrin]

Still on the topic of apples, but a slightly different vein...

Which Japanese apples are best for pies and cakes? Stewing or poaching? Making apple butter?

It's almost apple season, and I feel the need to bake a few apple-y tasting goodies!

[AzianBrewer]

I still think Granny Smith is best for apple pie.

[Sencha]

Oh! Those rabbits look great! I might be able to use that someday...

Decorative cuts are something I really should do more of. I've only done a few before, such as an apple swan and a monkey out of some other piece of produce that was around at the time.

[Evan]

Still on the topic of apples, but a slightly different vein...

Which Japanese apples are best for pies and cakes?  Stewing or poaching?  Making apple butter? 

It's almost apple season, and I feel the need to bake a few apple-y tasting goodies!

←

I been told that kougyoku apple is very good for pies as it is more tart than your run of the mill apples which are breed to be sweet. Make apple pie with it and brew some tea using water that has been boiled with the left over apple peel for a little bit of apple tea to go with your apple pie.

[torakris]

I still think Granny Smith is best for apple pie.

←

I wish we had granny smith over here...

good apples for baking in Japan, that is one of the things I have always meant to take notes on but I never do.