Shiikuasa harvest

There are six varieties of citrus in the back garden: mikan; yuzu; lime; lemon; hassaku; and shiikuasa. If you aren’t familiar with it, the last in that list is commonly grown in Okinawa and southern regions of Japan. It’s so common in Okinawa that, during the visit for Mieko’s last rights, I was hard put to find orange juice on the shelves of a local market, until I realized that shiikuasa was in plentiful supply. It’s normally harvested when the fruits are green, but I was slow this year, and they look instead like little mikan. I’m well into the harvest of our single tree, but it has nasty thorns, progress is slow, and there are still plenty of clusters in there.

Close up view of the branches of shiikuasa tree with a dozen or so fruits.
Close up view of the branches of shiikuasa tree with a dozen or so fruits.

The fruits are tiny but there are lots of them. They come into the house in a five-kilo bag. We’ve done four or five of these so far this season, and there are more to come.

A net bag filled with shiikuasa fruit freshly cut from the tree, some with leaves still attached.
A net bag filled with shiikuasa fruit freshly cut from the tree, some with leaves still attached.

Shiikuasa have an exceptionally intense citrus flavor. As I understand it, they are commonly used as a zest, but with volume like this, juicing is the only way to store the harvest for use through the year. After the (tedious!) process of individually slicing and squeezing the fruits, this year I’m pouring the juice into ziplock bags and freezing it.

A cutting board on a kitchen counter, with a knife resting next to a glass juicer and a shiikuasa fruit that has been sliced in half. The cutting board is surrounded by a bowl containing squeezed citrus rinds, a glass bottle topped with a funnel and containing some juice, and a stainless steel mesh strainer.
A cutting board on a kitchen counter, with a knife resting next to a glass juicer and a shiikuasa fruit that has been sliced in half. The cutting board is surrounded by a bowl containing squeezed citrus rinds, a glass bottle topped with a funnel and containing some juice, and a stainless steel mesh strainer.

A single tablespoon of shiikuasa juice in a glass of warm water makes a nice beverage for mornings and snack times. At that rate, there is far more in the harvest than I can possibly consume in a year. Some of this will be routed to neighbors.

Top view of the top tray of a refrigerator freezer compartment, blanketed entirely in siplock bags filled with frozen shiikuasa juice.
Top view of the top tray of a refrigerator freezer compartment, blanketed entirely in siplock bags filled with frozen shiikuasa juice.

Addendum

The harvest is still in progress. Today was unusually warm for a winter day, but the story is the same: dress for thorns; cut fruits from tree; fill bag; change to wardrobe for kitchen work; slice; squeeze; filter into jar; slice; squeeze; filter; repeat again … and again … Despite the monotony and the incidental indulgence in a bottle of saké or so, there is a good deal of skill involved—the skill of avoiding RSI (the dreaded lemon-squeezer elbow).

Five 500ml bottles filled with shiikuasa juice lined up on a kitchen counter, with a saké warming bottle (tokkuri) and cup (ochoko) standing in front of them.
Five 500ml bottles filled with shiikuasa juice lined up on a kitchen counter, with a saké warming bottle (tokkuri) and cup (ochoko) standing in front of them.