Strawberry Season Kunming 草莓

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Strawberry high season has arrived in Kunming. They are abundant, sweet and inexpensive. Thought I would give you a glimpse of this delicious Yunnan-style treat. Maybe inspire you to go out hunting for some in your city.

 

Bought these beauties yesterday. Enough for three or four generous servings; cost 10 Yuan, the equivalent of a dollar and a half.

 

 

The season here has “shoulders” since lots of berries are grown in large plastic tents called 塑料大篷。The farmers roll up the sides and open louvers in the top during the warm hours of the day, and then close up at night. Some smaller, family-run operations grow them outside under open air. They arguably have more flavor, even though they don’t look quite as nice. Those are called 露天。

 

Large berries cost more than small ones. The “sweet spot” for ones which look pretty nice but aren’t ornamental-grade huge is currently about 15 Yuan per 斤, 500 Grams. I bought 10 块 worth. Vendors like to sell larger amounts; if you aren't firm about your needs, you will probably get more than you want. I take out a 10 Yuan note and hold it in my hand during the negotiation, making it clear that's my limit.

 

Strawberries grow close to the ground, so I first wash them a couple times gently in water just to remove big debris. I use tap water for that. Then I soak them for about 15 minutes in some previously-boiled-and-cooled water to which I have added a couple pinches of salt. It’s a trick taught me by a local housewife, who said sometimes there are tiny bugs that you can’t see and this kills them.

 

 

Drain them and pare or pull off the tops. Slice into halves.

 

 

Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar. Toss gently to coat. Let them stand in the refrigerator 15 to 30 minutes.

 

 

Serve by adding some unflavored yogurt. The container will say 风味 or sometimes 原味。Chinese yogurt is always a little bit sweet whether it says so on the outside or not.

 

 

 

Kunming has lots of fresh fruit and fresh flowers. One of the glories of the place is this seasonal bounty. Buy now, don't wait. They might not be here tomorrow. The fleeting nature of these small pleasures is almost allegorical.

 

(Insert verse from the Rubaiyat here.)

 

Whether as a desert or a late evening snack, they make for another simple, inexpensive, healthy “Life is good” China moment. Enjoy while you can.

[Shelley]

Wow Strawberrys in march, won't see a fresh British strawberry til  the middle of the summer, June, July. There are strawberrys in the shops all year round from imports..

 

I really don't like the practice of having all fruits and veg available all year round. I liked it when things were in season and you could enjoy fresh fruits and veg for awhile and then move on to something different.

 

We have cherry, apple,pear and plum trees in our garden and its great fun when each tree is in fruit and we have cherry pie for desert and then the apples in time for autumn and then we have apple crumble and so on.

 

It is also nice to have fruit trees because they give more than just fruit, when they are in blossom the whole garden looks gorgeous and its fun when the brave little plum blossoms way ahead of all the trees and even before it has leaves.

 

When the trees need pruning, the wood burns with a nice smell in our fire. So its win win with fruit trees.

[Alex_Hart]

Looks awesome, abcd! Same for me as Shelley - no local ones till mid-summer. I also wash my fruit (especially the more porous ones like strawberries) with salt, a trick taught to me by a mainlander. For the less porous fruits, they told me to use vinegar. Mixed feelings as I've often bitten into a strawberry and found it peculiarly salty!

 

Two years ago, I spent a summer in Chengdu and would go every day to a fruit shop near my campus. The owner said that the fruit was brought up daily from Yunnan. It was probably the greatest 2 months of fruit (the mangoes! Oh my god, the mangoes...) I have ever had in my life (typically a New Yorker).

 

Sadly, there seems to be no drool emoticon. 

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Shelley, I envy your backyard with its fruit trees. That would be even better! The streets of Kunming are now lined with cherry blossoms, which started last month, and the plums are reaching the end of their annual flowering. I'll add a snapshot or two after I go out this morning.

 

I really don't like the practice of having all fruits and veg available all year round. I liked it when things were in season and you could enjoy fresh fruits and veg for awhile and then move on to something different.

 

I agree with this a whole lot and it's one of the things I like about Kunming. The supply chain is a short one: fruit picked early this morning on the farm is on sale at the market 3 or 4 hours later. In the US so much of the fruit is picked green and must be transported for days in huge trucks.

 

Such produce looks nice in the store, but doesn't have much taste; I've been told that's in part because very durable "truck farming" varieties have been chosen for commercial cultivation. Many "home garden" strains are too fragile to withstand the rigors of extensive handling.

 

Alex_Hart, what fine memory those Chengdu mangoes produced! Mangoes will hit the markets here in late May or early June. I look forward to their arrival; I look forward to having their juice smeared on my face and running all over my hands.

 

The little ones are popular here as well as the large ones. Sometimes they are sweeter. Three or four weeks before the local mangoes flourish, we usually get a lot of them brought up from Thailand and Laos, only a few hours to the south.

 

Mixed feelings as I've often bitten into a strawberry and found it peculiarly salty!

 

Ah, glad you mentioned that, Alex. The trick is to add the salt to the water and stir it until fully dissolved before adding the fruit. I use about a quarter teaspoon for 500 ml of water, not very concentrated.

[ChTTay]

Strawberries galore in Beijing too. The fancier looking (more like a grocers at home) fruit shop near my work says their cheaper ones are from Chengdu at 9.80 per 500g (一斤). I've been buying those and they've been very good. I was surprised at how carefully they handled the strawberries and how well they checked them before giving them to you at this place. The street guys just shove them in a bag which means you can get a few "bad ones".

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ChTTay -- That's a really good price! I've read that the Chengdu Plain is very fertile and has excellent irrigation, thanks to climate and engineering projects, both ancient and modern. (Dujiangyan 都江堰。)  http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/chengdu/dujiangyan.htm)

 

I like it that the vendor checks each berry with care and doesn't just blindly scoop them up. Do you sometimes have yours with yogurt, or just eat them plain?

[Teasenz]

Great! Here in Shenzhen they would easily cost 30 RMB for a small box.

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Teasenz, that's a big price difference. Guess I'm glad not to live in a first-tier city, although I do enjoy visiting Shenzhen every so often.

[ChTTay]

Recently I've been eating them at work so no frills. Wash and eat. Better desk food than potato chips! I've not washed with salt before but my gf uses this special fruit wash from Japan. Probably the same effect.

I'm looking forward to nectarines coming around again. Those glorious few weeks ...

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I'm looking forward to nectarines coming around again.

 

Me too!

[Shelley]

I'm looking forward to nectarines coming around again. Those glorious few weeks ...

 

 

That's what I mean when I say its nice to enjoy things when they are season.

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I agree completely, Shelley. Here we have so many short but rich seasons for fruits and vegetables, some only a few weeks long. I've been told it's because we are at relatively high elevation (about 2,000 meters) even though pretty far south (about as far south as the Mediterranean coast of Spain.)

 

If one procrastinates, one is out of luck. If one seizes the moment, one gets to enjoy the bounty. Seems there's a "life lesson" in that. China has taught me several such things.