One very popular winter fruit in Japan is a clementine, or they call them, mikan (mē-con). Are they the exact same fruit? Honestly, I have no idea, but I can tell you they are pretty darn close. Back home in Michigan, I love to get a box of Cuties and eat them three at time. Here, you can do the same thing, except you can do a lot more than just eat them plain. There is mikan juice, mikan flavored yogurt, jam, cookies, dressing, and cakes, just to name a few. They are even used as part of the traditional New Year’s decorations. They are so common this time of year you can see them growing on tress throughout the neighborhood. Mikans are definitely a sign of the winter just as apples are to fall in Michigan. And just how we can go apple picking in Michigan, we went mikan picking here in Japan!
Fortunately, the girls love mikans. Who doesn’t? They are tiny citrus that’s fun to eat. Aya’s mom found a place for us to pick mikans. Here were the rules. You could eat as many as you wanted while you picked. Yes, an outdoor all-you-can-eat mikan buffet! The rest picked for bag you paid by the kilogram. I don’t know how many the others ate, but I stopped at seven. The bags we filled up were small, but we ended up with about six or seven dozen. Which we ate between all of us in less than a week!
Oh my Darling, Oh my Darling,
Oh my Darling Clementine.
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
