|
Fuji can be big, but my sample is at best a large medium. It is only very slightly ribbed, and the shape might be conical but with very little in the way of taper, for an almost rectangular profile.
The skin is yellow-green with a red blush that is light and streaky in most places; my photo favors a more-saturated patch, which shows the light lenticels to best advantage. The apple has a sweet cidery aroma.
Fuji is moderately crisp, with juicy coarse yellow flesh. It is light and sweet, with only slight tempering acidity. The peel is on the chewy side but is not unpleasant.
This variety flirts with sweet blandness but has an appealing delicacy. The flavor is not assertive and might have generic floral and berry notes.
Fuji comes originally from Japan, where it is very popular. My sample, like most varieties sold here this time of year, grew in Washington State.
So I bought a few Fuji's mainly because they were 88 cents a pound and I have never tried the apple as far as I can remember. They have a nice floral smell to them. The apple I tried was firm and crunchy and extremely juicy. It was so juicy in fact I took notice. The sweetness was so intense it tasted like a Honeycrisp sprinkled with sugar. The reason for this was easy to spot after the first bite. This apple has watercore. I ate as much as I could but the sweetness was too much to take. I tossed it.
ReplyDeleteFuji's are known for watercore issues. The only other apple I recall having it this bad was a William's Pride I had last year. I am familiar with watercore but I decided to do some research and found that some folks are paying premium prices for the apples with watercore. They can have all of mine at market price. Some cultivars are more prone to get it. Watercore apples are said to be safe to eat and I have never had an issue with them. They are more juicy/watery, and the flavor seems to be a bit off; sweeter more intense and concentrated flavors.
Have you tried EverCrisp? It's supposedly a cross between Fuji and Honeycrisp, and I just saw it for the first time at the farmer's stand last week. I bought a couple but haven't tried them yet.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I find that the Fuji grown in America don't taste as delicious as the ones grown in Japan.
Hi! I appreciate your description of Japanese Fuji. It's not something I had heard before.
DeleteEvercrisp has not reached us yet, but from what I hear I might hope to try one next fall. There is a lot of buzz about that apple.
I tried EverCrisp yesterday, and didn't really like it. It is indeed very juicy like it's HoneyCrisp parent, but it's not very complex in flavor. There's that slight floral aroma I associate with Fuji, but quite faint. The other thing I didn't like about EverCrisp is that it tends to brown easily, and doesn't look like a good keeper - the seeds were starting to mold.
DeleteAs for Japanese Fuji - I keep on mentioning how much I miss it, and I think that Opal comes closest to a good Japanese Fuji apple, except for color.
Opal! I am glad you told me about that, s. chou, because the American Fuji's are nothing like an Opal.
DeleteI love APPLES
Delete