It's the season for mikan harvest, apparently from October to December. I saw some mikan with premium branding, so I decided to try and see if they were worthy of the branding.
This is Tamura Mikan from the Arita region in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. According to Japanese e-commerce websites, out of the mikan grown in Arita, the best are branded Tamura, as they come from a certain narrow stretch of land called Yuasa Machi or Street in the Tamura district, which is by the sea and boasts perfect conditions for growing mikan. There, mikan are grown in packed rows along the mountainside, which drains water well to provide good conditions for cultivating mikan. They also claim that it receives "3 types of sunshine" - the normal direct sunshine, the reflections from the sea, and the reflected heat from the mountain stone. I'm not sure what difference it makes though.
They do not use strong herbicides or pesticides, but do use some sparingly when they have no choice. And fertilisers are completely natural, such as konbu, fish powder and so on - no chemical fertilizers. They also don't use wax, which I presume some farms use to coat their fruits. As a result, according to some websites, you can actually eat the orange peel together with the fruit, although it is not recommended for children who are intolerant to the small amounts of herbicides or pesticides which might be present.
Incidentally, I didn't see references to the Imperial name on Japanese sites... They are probably a lot more cautious about referencing the imperial family, so that name might be a foreign-generated gimmick.
So after all the hype, how is the experience eating it? I would agree it is worth all the claims, as it is a perfect mikan as I could ask for - excellent balanced flavor, skin that was super easy to peel and seedless. Not a single hardened or dry part, as you might come across in more common brands such as Navel Oranges.
Tastewise, it has a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. No component juts out too much, unlike some overly sweet Navel oranges. The tartness adds to the refreshing flavour. It is apparently 14-15 degrees of sugar on the Brix sugar scale, which corresponds to 14-15g or sugar in 100g of water in a sugar solution. The average orange Brix measurement is around 8-14 degrees, so this is slightly higher than most sweet oranges.
I also ate the peel to see if the claims were true, and was extremely delighted as it was the most amazing peel I have eaten! As you can see, the skin is very thin, so it had a very nice vegetable crispness to its crunch. I have never had anything similar. Most orange peels are kinda thick, tough or soggy, but this was relatively dry and crisp, like a perfectly crisp but soft raw bean sprout. It also had a wonderful peel flavor - very fragrant and no noticeable bitterness or acidity. I suppose if you soaked in in some water first to leech out any trace of pesticides, you could eat all of it guilt-free.
Verdict: Highly recommended, especially as a gift. It was around S$38 for a rather heavy box, perhaps 18 pieces at around 1kg. (We already ate a few so the picture of the box is not the full number.) so perhaps around S$2 or US$1.60 each. A premium price compared to other oranges, but definitely healthier and more natural than say chocolates or financiers costing S$3-4 a piece. So I would say it is definitely well worth the price. Not to mention that this is a seasonal offering, the overall package is huge and direct from farm produce carries an extra premium and novelty in a urban setting... It would be an excellent gift for the season IMO.
They also come in different sizes by the way, as you can see in the image of the store's offerings below. I got the small version, hence the S on the box, which I feel is the best size for mikan. I'm not sure if the skin will be just as awesome for the larger versions, as I imagine the skin might be thicker.
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