The Fruit I Crave All Year Is Finally Back at Trader Joe’s

Thanks to its proximity to California, Oregon enjoys an influx of specialty citrus fruits every winter. Citrus season is one of the long, wet winter’s small mercies, and I like to ride that wave as long and as far as I can to stave off the dark season blues. Mandarinquats, makrut limes, and yuzus are just a few of the puckery delicacies I’ve impulse-bought and sampled over the years.

As any good food editor does, I’ve created an arcane ranking system for these fruits that lives only in my head. Leaf and stem mandarins sit near the top for their consistent and balanced sweet-tart flavor, easy-to-peel skins, and romantic appeal (they make my fruit bowl look like something out of a magazine). Mandarinquats are another favorite. A hybrid between mandarins and—you guessed it—kumquats, mandarinquats can be eaten peel and all. In fact, the peel is the sweet part, while the juicy interior is as sour as a Warhead.

Why I Love Kishu Mandarins

My favorite citrus fruit of all time, though, is the kishu mandarin. These wee fruits are super sweet and juicy, with the perfect balance of tartness that keeps them from being cloying. Their loose skins, which would be a warning sign in most other fruits, make kishus extremely satisfying to peel. The skins practically slip right off in one piece, revealing a tiny orange about the size of a golf ball (sometimes smaller). I can eat them by the half dozen.

In fact, I love kishu mandarins so much that I once named a cat after them. Kishu (the cat) earned her name because I adopted her during the winter (in fact, I probably had a bowl of kishu mandarins in my kitchen at the time), and she was very tiny and cute. The name fit perfectly.

I usually have to trawl my favorite specialty markets for kishus, as chain supermarkets don’t carry them. So I did a double-take when I saw them recently at Trader Joe’s. Not only did the store have kishus in stock, but it offered them in a one-pound bag for $4.99, a more than respectable deal for such a standout fruit. The season for kishus is far shorter than I would like, so make a point of dropping by Trader Joe’s while supplies last.

I like to snack on kishu mandarins on rainy, gray days with a steaming cup of genmaicha or herbal tea. The oils from the citrus peels mingling with the aromatic steam from the tea provide a full sensory experience that makes it a little easier to appreciate the slowness of the season, and every time I eat a kishu all I can think is that it tastes like sunshine in my mouth.

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