The benefits of buntan pomelo
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What pomelo does
What this vegetable does
It is held to ease the circulation of qi and settle the way the gut works. It suits a tired gut and poor digestion.
How to eat it
As well as eating it as it is, it is good added to salads and desserts.
A yakuzen note
Pomelo is a cold fruit, said to settle the way the gut works even as it cools the body.
Pomelo is sweet and sour and cold, a citrus held to settle excess heat in the body, bring moisture and ease the circulation of qi. It suits daily care when a dry throat or a cough from dryness is on your mind, or when you want to settle the gut. Clean in flavour, it is a fruit that goes easily into salads, desserts and juice as well as being eaten as it is.
TOC
When pomelo is in season, its types, and how to choose it
If you want to enjoy what pomelo does, it helps to know its season, its types and how to choose it. It is a large citrus with firm flesh packed inside a thick skin, loved for its fresh scent and sweet-sour flavour.
In season from winter to spring, grown mainly in Kochi
Pomelo is a large citrus of the shaddock group, known in Japan as buntan or zabon. It is in season from winter into spring, appearing from around January to April. It is left to rest for a while after harvest so that the acidity falls away, a ripening that happens off the tree, and fruit held a little past the start of the season carries more sweetness. The main growing areas are Kochi, known for Tosa buntan, along with Ehime and Kagoshima. Fragrant and long-keeping, it is a familiar gift from winter into spring.
Tosa buntan, Suisho buntan and banpeiyu
Pomelo comes in several types according to growing area and variety, differing in size and flavour.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Tosa buntan | The leading variety from Kochi. A clean sweet-sour note and firm flesh |
| Suisho buntan | Grown under glass and appearing early, from autumn. Thin-skinned and juicy |
| Banpeiyu | An extra-large fruit from Kumamoto. Highly fragrant, with light flesh |
For everyday use the widely available Tosa buntan, for juiciness Suisho buntan, for scent and sheer presence banpeiyu: you can choose by use. With all of them, the basic method is to take off the thick skin, remove the membrane and eat the flesh.
How to choose it, and how to peel it
When picking out a good pomelo, these are the things to look for.
- Heavy in the hand, and plump and well shaped
- Skin firm and glossy, with a scent rising softly from it
- Not shrivelled around the stem end, with few blemishes
Pomelo has a thick skin, so cutting the top and base off and scoring the skin lengthways before peeling by hand takes it off cleanly without damaging the flesh. Opening the membrane of each segment and lifting the flesh out brings the grainy texture of the pearls forward. Do not throw the peel away: it can be used for marmalade and for candying.
How to eat pomelo
The clean sweet-sour flavour of a pomelo is good as it is and good with a little work. Here are the usual ways.
As it is, in salads and as juice
Pomelo is at its best with the membrane taken off and eaten as it is. The sweet-sour note and scent that spread from the firm flesh make it a dessert for winter and spring. Segments broken up and combined with leaves and prosciutto make a salad where that clean acidity comes forward. Squeezed into juice, or added to a jelly or an agar dessert, it finishes fragrant. That fresh acidity also works as a palate cleanser after a rich dish.
As marmalade and candied peel
Nothing of a pomelo need be wasted, thick peel included. Peel chopped and simmered with sugar into marmalade is richly fragrant and goes well with bread and yoghurt. Zabon zuke, the peel simmered in sugar and dried, is an old-fashioned sweet with both a light bitterness and sweetness. The white part of the peel is strongly bitter, so parboiling it and soaking it in water before use gives a better result in the mouth. The juice added to a dressing or a drink works as a note in its own right.
How to keep pomelo
Pomelo has a thick skin and keeps well, so a whole fruit can be wrapped in newspaper and kept somewhere cool and dark with air moving. If drying out is a concern, a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge holds the juiciness. Peeled flesh dries out easily, so keep it in a container in the fridge and eat it soon. If you have a lot, break the flesh up and freeze it, or squeeze the juice and freeze it in an ice tray, ready for juice and for baking.
Alongside this, a citrus likewise held to settle the circulation of qi, The benefits of mandarin orange and one that shares the same clean acidity, The benefits of orange as a guide when building a table from winter into spring.
In season from winter into spring, pomelo is a large citrus whose sweet-sour note and scent carry it from eating as it is to salads, juice, marmalade and candied peel. Clean Tosa buntan, juicy Suisho buntan and highly fragrant banpeiyu: use each type for the job and it shows its best. For daily care in the season when a dry throat and dryness are on your mind, bring pomelo in season into the day.
