This week, let’s refresh ourselves with some fresh fruit. The fruits commonly eaten in Korea are quite different from the ones commonly eaten in America, but they are just as delicious, if not sweeter.
Let’s start off with the fruit that can be eaten in a variety of ways: the persimmon. The persimmon is a round orange fruit with a thin peel that can be either hard or squishy depending on how much you leave it to ripen. Typically, I prefer the hard types when I’m eating it plainly. Although it has a hard texture, it is still quite sweet and doesn’t taste like it’s unripe at all. But be careful of the seeds! They are quite hard and can be hidden. In the hot summer, it can be eaten frozen after it is ripened. It’s just like eating a slushy (but healthier because it’s all natural)! This is also one of my favorite ways to eat a persimmon. Sometimes, it can also be eaten as a dried fruit. Once it is dried for several months, it oozes out a white sugary coat, giving it a snowy appearance. It is quite sweet since all the sugar is concentrated and is a delicacy of the winter months.
Another favorite of mine is called chamwe, a small, yellow, and striped melon. The melon fits in your palm and it is really cute. Like the melons we know, it has a juicy, crispy outer layer and a seed-packed inside. Unlike other melons, the seeds are edible. Since it is a smaller melon, the seeds are also much smaller to eat. Usually, the children don’t like to eat the seeds, so they scoop out the seeds with their fork, leaving out the seeds (even though they are actually sweet!). Because they are so common in Korea, they are sold anywhere–in the streets or in markets. Make sure to try one when you visit!
The pear is a common fruit in America, but none look like the pears in Korea. The pears in Korea are large, round fruits with a very very crispy texture and eaten after it is peeled with a knife. They are not the mushy pears you know. They are also much juicier and sweeter! When I moved to America and tried a pear, I couldn’t believe that we called this fruit the same name as the superior pears we have in Korea… They are on the more expensive side, so these pears are often bought as a gift to someone you appreciate.
Citrus seems like a fruit that is common to many parts of the world, and Korea is part of it. Korea’s special citrus fruits are from Jeju Island, a small island off the south coast of Korea. It is called hallabong, and it’s like an orange with a little lump at the top. The main difference from the normal orange is that it holds a little more of the sweet flavor as opposed to the sour flavor. Personally, I love hallabong when it’s juiced because it doesn’t have the sour, bitter taste that normal orange juice seems to have.
If you love fruits, Korea is the perfect place for you. You can find the variants of your favorite fruits in Korea and see how different or similar they taste! It is really apparent that geographic location has such an impact on the flavor of natural food.
Image Sources:
https://grocermart.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6311
https://instawebview.xyz/hashtag/forex
https://www.virtualmarket.asiafruitlogistica.com/en/Korean-Pear,p1568457