Japanese Plums

Identifying Japanese plums is not too hard.  They have a dark

exterior skin, that has speckles to it, the fruit is very dense and dark red, and

the shape can be heart shaped more than round or flat. If you look 

in the photograph above, you can see the shape from the two

plums that I cut.

These plums are not sold in the grocery store, at least not 

that I am aware of, and not in my neighborhood.

However, you can find them at Farmer's markets. I found these

at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market which is held

on Wednesday mornings.  I think it is the best Farmer's Market

in the Los Angeles area.  Maybe though,  if you are 

really lucky you might find someone who has it in their backyard.

These are Satsuma plums.  If you are a plum lover like I am, and

have ever thought about planting a plum tree, I highly recommend

this variety.  One catch though... it needs to be cross pollinated.  That

means you will have to plant two plum trees. The Satsuma cross

pollinates with the Santa Rosa, which is also a delicious eating plum.

We had a Satsuma plum growing right next to a Santa Rosa plum

in my backyard when  I was a child, that is how I fell in love with them!!!

The Satsuma plums are my favorites, because they are so

flavorful, not watery tasting, they are really meaty and not overly juicy, and the seed

is small and comes out really easy.

With fruit that has such hearty flesh, you can make all sorts of desserts, 

like crisps and cobblers, German Plum Cake, wonderful jam, 

but best of all..... tarts!

Go to your local Farmer's Market and see what you can discover!

As Always,

ENJOY!