Fantastic fruits and when to eat them. (What's in season now?)

[abcdefg]

Here's a rough guide to what fruits are in season now, early summer. I hope it might be useful to you in staying well fed while you are in China. 

 

The list will obviously differ from one part of China to another. Best to ask some local gray-hair/long-beard types who have lived in your new temporary hometown for a long time. Even many younger locals, especially the women, will have been schooled by their mothers and grandmothers and can help you some.

 

In the market I always ask lots of questions. I ask the old lady who is shopping for same thing I am why she buys this piece of fruit instead of that one. Why the dark ones and not the light ones?; why the ones with leaves attached?; why those big ones with the obvious blemishes? They usually seem to enjoy helping me. I also ask the vendors why one bin costs more than the one next to it. Maybe simply that these are small and those are large. Maybe those others over there are very ripe and need to be used today. Vendor must move them out. Don’t assume or guess; better to ask.

 

What I did when starting out was to actually follow people who seemed to fit the demographic of “wise locals” in the outdoor wet market/"farmers market" 农贸市场 and copy their buying habits.   I also made a note of how much they paid after bargaining, so I didn't have to shell out the "foreigner price." I took lots mobile-phone snapshots; still do. I made a point to learn the name of things. I asked the vendor, I looked for signs. I whipped out my notebook and a pencil and asked someone standing nearby to write it out for me. Then I read up on it when I got home to try and learn a little more. Baidu is great for that. Run it through a translation app if your Chinese isn’t up to the task.

 

Vendors love to tell you how to cook whatever it is that they sell. 95% of them are eager to help you turn it into a good meal. Share your plans. “I was thinking about frying this with some ham, what do you think?” Some are reserved at first, but once they see your ears are open, realize you aren't arrogant, the good, sound advice pours out. It can be priceless; save you tons of grief.

 

Don't try to be James Bond about any of this; it is not a covert action. If people gave me a funny look, I just explained I was recently arrived here on these shores and was trying to learn how to shop wisely by studying their methods. Most seemed flattered and some took me under their wing to voluntarily explain all sorts of other stuff I would not have dreamed to ask. Even what bus to take to get home, where to get an honest bowl of noodle soup; good place for a haircut or a foot massage.

 

One very common buying axiom, that locals apply to most vegetables as well as fruits, was “buy it today, cook it today” 今天买，今天吃。 Especially true for leafy greens, of course. Potatoes, carrots, and big red onions would a keep a couple days longer. Ginger and garlic could be kept on hand. There were other exceptions: lemons, limes and oranges could last several days.

 

Several fruits are better poached or stewed. Seems counter-intuitive, but it’s true. This is probably the default method to enjoy local peaches and plums, for example. Lots of Chinese people seldom eat them raw. Poaching enhances flavor; boosts the taste. Some fruits are real good steamed, even though that approach is uncommon in the west. 

 

I seldom, almost never, buy fruit and vegetables in the supermarket. Very simple reason: longer supply chain. It may have been picked or harvested a couple weeks ago. The produce I get at the outdoor market was in the ground or on the tree yesterday. At least much of it. Need to seek it out. Learn how to get the good stuff for your own table. One insider's tip: shop in the morning if you possibly can. Vendors often sprinkle water on fruit (and vegetables) all through the day to keep it looking fresh. 

 

You don’t have to be a great sleuth to figure most of this out. If you go to a fruit store 水果店, just look to see what’s featured; what gets most of the counter space. If you go to the outdoor farmers market, see what is piled up left and right. See where locals are lining up and look at what’s in their shopping bags if you meet them on the street.

 

Anyhow here’s a “from the top of my head” list of what fruit is locally available and in season now in Kunming. Please contribute if you see errors or omissions. Please expand it with info from your part of China. 

 

Remember, where you live the crops might very well be different; Harbin is a long way from Guangzhou.  

 

• Apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines. These are the “summer stone fruits.”  杏儿、桃子、梅子、油桃。Good right now. Will be finished in three weeks or so, depending on the weather (mainly how much rain falls.) Here's a recent post about one good way to deal with the peaches: 

  https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/58514-local-peaches-poach-them-please-煮熟桃子/?tab=comments#comment-454606  

• Smaller, locally grown cherries 樱桃 are in season now (almost at the end.) The great big ones 车厘子 from South America (Chile) arrive in the winter.
• Blueberries 蓝莓 are abundant now, but they have a short season. Won't last long. Big ones cost more than little ones.
• Mangoes 芒果 are in. Lots of them are from Thailand and Burma. They will get cheaper in a week or two. In three or four weeks, they will have vanished. 
• Watermelon 西瓜 is abundant and flavorful. I think the small ones are sweeter. Some are trucked in from Burma. 5 or 6 yuan per kilo. Get the seller to cut it up. Doesn't cost any extra. (Ditto for other melons.)
• Cantaloupe 哈密瓜 and Honeydew melon 蜜露瓜 are good now. They are just starting. Some are local, some from Xinjiang and Qinghai. The best will be from Xinjiang in two or three weeks.
• Grapes 葡萄。Many local, green ones and red ones; seedless and seeded; tender skin and thick skin. Large vineyards near Mile 弥勒县。Some brought in from Xinjiang and Qinghai. Parts of Gansu and Ningxia.
• Bananas are still good. They have a long season. Some are from South Yunnan. Some are from Hainan. 5 to 10 Yuan per kilo. The small ones from South Yunnan are excellent. They are called 八角 and have twice the flavor of the big ones. Cost 50% more.  
• Lemons are cheap and good; limes are expensive and kind of dry. Six weeks ago, the situation was reversed.
• Dragonfruit 火龙果 is good now; plentiful and relatively cheap. 10 to 15 Yuan per kilo.
• Lychee 荔枝 are great now. About 15 Yuan/kilo. Look for ones that say 妃子笑。It’s a particularly flavorful cultivar. Local ones from South Yunnan, Honghe Prefecture. Many are from Vietnam. Some from Thailand.
• Longyan 龙眼 aren’t ready yet, but will be soon. Wait a week or two. Keep your eyes peeled. 
• Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries are over for the year. So are local (south Yunnan) pineapples. You can still find a few, but they cost twice what they did three weeks ago. 
• Forget about avocados牛油果。Imported ones don’t ripen well and cost way too much. Local ones are scarce. Chinese don’t much like them. No demand means very limited production.
• Grapefruits 西柚/葡萄柚 are arriving to some fruit stands, not all. They aren't local; not sure where they're from. Frankly, I"m not sure about them.
• Pomelo 柚子 (much larger than grapefruit) is finished (it’s a winter fruit.) See a few oranges and tangerines, but not many. (More in the cold months.)
• Pears get good when the weather turns chilly in the fall of the year, after 中秋节。Apples are at their best in fall and winter too. The big orchards of NE Yunnan are dormant now, for example. (昭通州) 
• Shanzhu 山竹 (mangosteen) are finished for the year. Best are from Thailand.
• Yangmei 杨梅 and rambutan  红毛丹 are finished for the year. (early spring fruit.)

 

[MerlinStevens]

Wow, great, thank you! And what about the strawberry and black cherry? I am fond of the latter one greatly.

[abcdefg]

Hello @MerlinStevens -- Welcome to the Forums!

 

Kunming strawberry season is in mid to late February, very early. It lasts about a month, depending on how rapidly the weather warms up. That is also when the cherry trees bloom here. They make a beautiful sight.

 

Afraid I don't know about black cherries specifically. 

 

One can still find a few hothouse strawberries even now, but they are out of season and cost two or three times what they do earlier in the year. They look pretty, but I'm not sure how they taste since I don't buy them myself. 

[889]

Is rhubarb seasonal? Don't recall ever seeing it, at least in supermarkets.

[abcdefg]

@889 -- I don't think I've seen it here. Must admit that I've never launched a search for it, so I could have just overlooked it. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

On 6/13/2019 at 3:27 PM, abcdefg said:

Forget about avocados牛油果。Imported ones don’t ripen well and cost way too much. Local ones are scarce. Chinese don’t much like them. No demand means very limited production.

 

 

4 for 39 in the Jing Dong supermarket (called 7 Fresh) near me in Beijing. Very good actually as they include 2 ripe and 2 unripened. They flavour too. However I don't see them that often in other places around.

 

[abcdefg]

Good to know, @DavyJonesLocker -- I stand corrected. Thanks. The ones I buy here are rock hard at the time of purchase, and turn bad before they ripen. I've given up on them. It's a pity, because I love avocados, would very much like to make a batch of delicious guacamole. 

 

I'll keep trying to find some here, maybe look in other stores. (I don't think we have Jing Dong.) Most of the ones I see are imported from New Zealand. 

 

Fresh avocados are real good in Texas. Lots of them are brought up from Mexico. When I go home for my annual visit, I quickly get spoiled. Eat lots of them. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, abcdefg said:

Good to know, @DavyJonesLocker -- I stand corrected. Thanks. The ones I buy here are rock hard at the time of purchase, and turn bad before they ripen. I've given up on them. It's a pity, because I love avocados, would very much like to make a batch of delicious guacamole. 

 

 

although I'd say its the exception rather than the rule. Advocado is not a commonly seen fruit here in Beijing from my experience, mainly found in the more modern supermarkes

Just ate one this morning, Toast , Peanut butter and avocada which a lot of people think its weird  

 

What you are seeing more and more here in Beijing  is prepackaged fruits, so no need wrestle your way in amongst the 大妈s to get the best ones. Again you pay a premium for this convenience. However given i really start to get irrate with all the pushing , shoving queue skipping at the weighting stations in the more traditional supermarkets, its a premium I would happily pay!

[ChTTay]

Avocados popular in Beijing. “In the know” old people starting to eat them for health reasons.  Then of course young’uns enjoy them in salad, on toast, sandwiches, smoothies etc 

 

I’ve yet to have good Chinese lemons or limes. I always try buy imported. The Chinese ones are always so dry and don’t produce much juice or have much flavour. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, ChTTay said:

Avocados popular in Beijing. “In the know” old people starting to eat them for health reasons.  Then of course young’uns enjoy them in salad, on toast, sandwiches, smoothies etc 

 

Based on this thread, I noticed avocado oil in the supermarket today. Not sure if I've even see that in UK. Never looked though. 

at 110kuai for 250ml ,I think I'll pass on that

 

Nice on a salad , pasta perhaps

[mungouk]

On 6/13/2019 at 3:27 PM, abcdefg said:

rambutan  红毛丹 are finished for the year. (early spring fruit.)

 

I've had these in Thailand in August... is the season so different?

 

 

 

[abcdefg]

7 hours ago, mungouk said:

I've had these in Thailand in August... is the season so different?

 

@mungouk -- I really don't know much about this tasty fruit. I ate some good ones in Vietnam last month. Mostly sweet with a subtle sour note as well. Have also had them farther south, in Malaysia; can't remember exactly what time of year.

 

What I read in Wikipedia just now is that some of the rambutan trees can bear fruit twice a year and others only once. Would not be surprised if the time at which they flower and then fruit depends to a large extent on how far north one looks. It's my understanding (my limited understanding) that they require tropical warm weather to produce; don't do well in cooler climates. 

 

The ones that show up in the fruit stalls here in Kunming are grown farther south. They aren't indigenous to Kunming. I say that without really knowing for 100% sure. I've been fooled before by farmers growing small amounts of this or that in hothouse conditions right on the edge of the city. 

 

Thailand sure does have lots of good tropical fruit. Every time I go there, I discover something new. (Heading to Chiang Mai again in about two weeks.)

[abcdefg]

9 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

Based on this thread, I noticed avocado oil in the supermarket today. Not sure if I've even see that in UK. Never looked though. 

at 110kuai for 250ml ,I think I'll pass on that

 

I've never used it either. 

[abcdefg]

(Cross posted from here, in the "Life, Work and Study in China in General" forum: https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/58481-why-is-fruit-so-bland-and-yet-so-expensive-in-china/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-456531) 

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This morning (24 July) I bought 8 large figs 无花果 for 6 Yuan (a little less than 1 US Dollar) at my local farmer's market. Bought 4 that had been allowed to fully ripen on the tree and 4 that were very close to being ripe but not quite there.

 

Figs just hit the market ten days or two weeks ago. Summer fruit. Short season. Locally grown. They are bruise easily and don't transport well. Cannot truck them to Beijing or Shanghai without incurring significant spoilage.  

 

Have already eaten three of them today and am saving the others until tomorrow. Won't put them in the fridge. Will just leave them out on the kitchen table in a woven bamboo basket. Delicious fruit. Sweet and tender. 

 

     

 

 

Also bought 8 large local plums 梅子。Paid 6 Yuan for them as well. Have eaten 2 so far. They are sweet, juicy, soft, with a slightly tart finish. Am hoping they will last until day after tomorrow. It is getting near the end of their short harvest season. This weekend I'll go back and hopefully buy some more. 

 

The honey peaches 蜜桃 are almost gone now. Still taste good, but have more blemishes. They are currently selling for 4 or 5 Yuan per kilogram. I have poached a large jar of them and put it in the fridge, where it should last a week or so. 

 

   

 

 

This two dollar (12 Yuan) expenditure for fresh fruit is less than a cup of Starbuck's coffee. Kunming is a good place for fresh fruit and vegetables. Even though prices have risen over 5 years ago, excellent quality is still readily available without breaking the bank. 

 

These tomatoes are also from this morning's market trip. Ten minute bicycle ride from home. They are "seconds." One has a skin blemish and one has been pecked by a bird. The others are close to being too ripe. They were priced for quick sale; cost 4 Yuan. About a kilogram. The same vendor had top grade ones for sale at 6.5 Yuan per kilo. He lets them go for 6 if you buy a lot. 

 

 

 

I'll make something good with these beauties tomorrow, perhaps a nice Yunnan gazpacho. They are at peak flavor. 

 

[abcdefg]

Update 5 August -- 火把梨

 

Early season pears and apples are beginning to arrive at the outdoor farmers market and at streetside fruit stalls now. Older residential areas in Kunming have one or two small open-front fruit shops per block it seems. People eat a lot of fruit here.  It's customary at these fruit sellers to be able to taste any item that you think you might want to buy. Tell a 售货员 and they will cut you a slice. That was the case today. 

 

These are 火把梨, a locally-famous variety. They grow at elevations over 2,500 meters in climate zones where there is plenty of sun and the difference between daytime high temperatures and nighttime low temperatures are large. Yunnan and Sichuan are both producers. These pears are not turned out in huge volume. Baidu says "sparse production" 产量稀少。

 

Thin skin, shaped like apples, 酸甜 flavor. Crisp 口感。High moisture content 水分。Juicy fruit with high moisture content is desirable as a consumer, but it means the fruit will bruise easily and not be easy to ship. Large supermarket chains prefer more "durable" varieties, pears that stand up better to rough handling. 

 

Got these today for 7.5 Yuan per kilogram. My four "medium-large" ones cost 8 Yuan, so about 2 Yuan each. Considerably cheaper than a 冰淇淋 from 肯德基。  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The young woman at the fruit store told me these came from Honghe Prefecture 红河州 (south of Kunming.) I don't know for sure, but can't help wondering if they might have gotten their name from their coloration resembling that of the torch which is central to 火把节, an important ethnic 彝族 festival in those parts.

[Publius]

You should change the title to "Fantastic Fruits and When to Eat Them"

[abcdefg]

7 minutes ago, Publius said:

You should change the title to "Fantastic Fruits and When to Eat Them"

 

Hmm! Sounds good! Done!

[Shelley]

On the subject of rhubarb I am surprised its not easily found. This titbit below would make me think China had a surplus of rhubarb at least in 1839.

 

Rhubarb, Constipation and War

Rhubarb has a laxative effect. In the 19th century, China exported rhubarb to Britain for this very purpose: Britain, for her part, was flooding China with opium – which shows a marked disparity between the philanthropic intentions of the two countries. When the outbreak of the First Opium War looked inevitable, the Chinese Commissioner, Lin Tse-Hsü, believing that the British would die of constipation en masse if deprived of rhubarb, threatened to halt the export of the vegetable. For unknown reasons, Queen Victoria apparently never had the letter translated so we will never know if rhubarb could have prevented the Opium Wars.

 

I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries – how much less to China! Of all that China exports to foreign countries, there is not a single thing which is not beneficial to people: they are of benefit when eaten, or of benefit when used, or of benefit when resold: all are beneficial… Take tea and rhubarb, for example; the foreign countries cannot get along for a single day without them. If China cuts off these benefits with no sympathy for those who are to suffer, then what can the barbarians rely upon to keep themselves alive?

(Lin Tse-Hsü – Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria 1839)

[889]

No need for Chinese rhubarb these days. Britain produces plenty of rhubarb, and plenty of rhubarb root to make a laxative 100 percent British made, and no doubt proudly so:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rhubarb-Root-2500mg-Capsules-Purest/dp/B07NJJSZ8K

 

Forget the Brexit worries. With self-sufficiency in rhubarb root, Britain will be on a run.

[abcdefg]

What an interesting clipping, @Shelley! Thanks! I was completely ignorant about the importance of rhubarb. It might very well exist here; there are so many fruits and vegetables that I don't know about. Every week I make new discoveries. Have to admit that I don't even know how to say rhubarb in Chinese. My dictionary says 大黄。

 

Looking it up in Baidu just now gives several other regional names, as well as pictures that I recognize. Guess I've seen it but just didn't know what it was. Next time I'm in the market, I will definitely ask around, check it out. 

 

On a similar note, Tibetans have historically been extremely fond of strong fermented black tea from Yunnan and Sichuan, Pu'er and others, leading to it becoming almost a currency on the ancient Tea Horse Trail 茶马古道。They bought large bricks of it in exchange for swift Tibetan ponies.

 

They turn this tea into a special beverage by boiling it for hours to ensure that it's potent, then mixing it in a churn with yak butter, salt and so on. It becomes very nourishing and is a staple there during the long winter months. But, it is also prized for its laxative effect. During much of the year, at least in the old days, they could not grow vegetables or fruit, subsisting largely on a diet of meat and fat. So tea from the south was valued all the more since it was a tonic against the resulting 大便秘 (big constipation.)