Japanese Yamaguchi Amanatsukan (grapefruit orange)

Japanese Yamaguchi Amanatsukan

Have you tried one of those pricey Japanese fruits yet? The Amanatsukan is just one of those.

If you love citrus fruits, you may have heard of the grapefruit. Unlike mandarin oranges (mikan, 蜜柑), grapefruit is not that sweet, and have a pleasant bitter taste instead. If you know TCM (traditional Chinese medicine, 傳統中醫), many foods or herbs that are bitter, have curative effects, and are also useful in reducing “heatiness (熱氣)” during summer and if one’s body is “heaty”. It is also thought to br great for weight control, due to its high fiber, as well as perhaps helping with immunity (vitamins C, B and more) and maybe even diabetes.

The Amanatsukan, or Amanatsu, is a citrus fruit that is a strange hybrid. It looks like a bright orange, but tastes like a grapefruit. It is also rather expensive, especially from one of its birthplaces, Yamaguchi (山口縣), roughly USD$7.50 for ONE. Definitely one of these can buy you at least 3 or 4 beef rice bowl meals in Japan.