This is the Nippon Yell Dried Wakayama Unshū Mikan, made using juice from unshū mikan grown in Wakayama Prefecture. The fruit’s origins are believed to trace back to either Japan or China, and its name means “honey citrus of Wenzhou” (a city in Zhejiang province, China) in both languages. In the West, it is commonly known as the satsuma mandarin, a name derived from the former Satsuma Province in Japan, from which these fruits were first exported.

The dried unshū mikan pieces varied in size, likely using undersized fruit, and were coated with fine sugar. The rind ranged in colour from green to orange, while the flesh was a vibrant orange. They emitted a mellow, sweet citrus aroma.

The exterior of each piece was firm with the thin layer of crystallised sugar offering a slight crunch when bitten into, but yielding effortlessly to a gentle bite and a sweet, subtly tangy mandarin flavour. The flesh contained some fibrous membrane but was mostly juicy, with concentrated juice vesicles delivering an intense sweet flavour that developed into a vibrant sourness as one chewed. The rind, which was not fibrous, provided a fresh zestiness without any bitterness, with the green and orange rind having no impact on the sweetness of the flesh or the lack of bitterness in the rind. This dried fruit stood out for its ability to capture the concentrated, juicy, and nuanced flavour of unshū mikan.

This Nippon Yell Dried Fruit Wakayama Unshū Mikan contained 22 g. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2024.