Saturday, July 9, 2011

'Mountain peach', loquat liqueur, butterflies...

We have what the Japanese folks call a Yama-momo tree in our garden...
Literally, it means 'mountain peach'... 
I prefer this name to that of 'wax myrtle'...
It is a tall shrub, and a beautiful one at that...
Its fruits are small, about one centimeter in diameter...
And they look a bit like raspberries even... 
Except that they have seeds inside...
They taste quite sweet, with a tinge of sourness in them...

The little butterflies visit our herb garden often in this season... 
It is a joy to observe them hopping around the flowers...
This one is sucking nectar from the flowers of the curry plant...

Cathy@home asked about how we made wine out of loquats... 
Well, we don't really make wine out of them, so to say...
Rather, we 'flavor' the wine (with the seeds)...
In Japan, we can easily buy jars specifically designed for this purpose...
They come in 4 liter jars, and the jars are filled with 1.8 liters of 'white' liquor...
With this, we make liqueur out of them...

I am fond of eating the flesh of the loquats...
I keep the seeds, drying them under the sun...
While they dry, they emit a very nice almond-like scent...
My missus put about 800 grams of the dried seeds and about 300 grams of rock sugar into the jars...
And we let it mellow for about a year...

This one has been with us for two years...
I do not consider myself a drinker but I do take a tiny cup of this liqueur once in a while during dinner...
Apparently, the seeds of the loquats have elements that suppress cancer...
I regularly eat about two seeds per day with my meals...
They taste good, anyway, and it would be a waste to throw them away...

23 comments:

  1. The yama-momo look so tempting. Nice, vibrant colour too. :)

    Lovely butterfly photo, by the way.

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  2. That's seems to be a simple life.

    As what the butterfly has shown.

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  3. lina... just harvested 800 grams of the yama momo... am making juice out of it... no sugar added...

    rainfield... indeed simple, and even a bit 'spartan', if I may add...

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  4. I wish I can have a taste.

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  5. What I love about blogging is seeing what people grow, eat and drink all round the world. I learned something new today. Thank you!

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  6. Malay-Kadazan girl... a little of it a day is good for the soul...

    Matron... I am happy to hear that I have 'contributed' something!

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  7. The peach looks real yummy. Very tempting.

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  8. Wow Mr Lrong its so interesting to hear about loquats, just cant wait for my own tree to show at least a flower bud...its already been 3 years now! Such a lovely sight to see the butterfly perching on the flowers, I still couldnt catch one yet, they are too flirty to snap!

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  9. I would like to taste those inviting mountain peach fruits.
    Thanks for sharing the loquat recipe.
    Nice photos too.

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  10. milka... just harvested all of the mountain peaches... made juice out of them...

    p3chandan... hope your loquat tree will flower soon... I derive so much joy in seeing my three loquat trees flower and fruit for me...
    That butterfly was quite small... the wings were maybe about 2 centimeters across...

    Maia... they taste pretty good, I must say... very refreshing...

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  11. Absolutely beautiful the way you've captured the light in the butterfly's wings. That is a very special photo ;)

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  12. Lrong, hi! Are those mountain peach fruits popular in China? Looks like those sold by peddlars at Beijing. The peddlars skew them in a stick then, coat them with sugar syrup I think. Btw, the loquat seeds look like they didn't expand. The same size as before. But you take them after they mellowed right? Will the seed turn soft after the 'mellowing' process? sorry so many questions he he... I find it rather interesting ;-)

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  13. The butterfly is gorgeous! The photo is well taken. It must be so special to taste home-made wine. I only know about loquat as in 'wong loquat' herbal drinks. This post is very educational indeed.

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  14. Cat... thank you for your compliments... I am happy you like the picture... :)

    Stephanie... Hi there... I am not sure about the mountain peach being popular in China... I have been to China only once, actually... ;)
    You are quite right about the size of the seeds... they have not really expanded... The seeds that I consume are the ones not soaked in the wine... I have yet to taste the wine-soaked seeds at this point...

    Autumn Belle... many thanks for your comment... the butterflies are quite tiny, their wing span is about 1.5 centimeters...
    Yeap, homemade wine is absolutely lovely to drink... it is a real 'privilege' to be able to do so in our home...

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  15. Anonymous7/13/2011

    The loquat liquer sounds absolutely intriguing! Lovely photos...enjoyed looking and reading! :)

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  16. Lrong, I have found out that the fruit in Beijing was actually hawthorn fruits. Check out http://www.itmonline.org/arts/crataegus.htm

    Have a great week!

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  17. Natsu matsuri hajimatta ka sochi? You are one of the black pearl winner. If you don't mind can you email me your address? (diana.demiyah@gmail.com)

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  18. Theanne... am glad to hear that you enjoyed reading the post... just had another small glass of that liqueur this evening...

    Stephanie... oh, am not familiar as yet with this hawthorn... apparently the Japanese also use them as bonsais... shall look it up in August when I see one of my Japanese friends who is into bonsai...thanks for the tip...

    Malay-Kadazan girl... natsu matsuri wa mada desu ne... hachi gat tsu desu...
    hmmm... I am one of the winners? ok, shall email you in a while...

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  19. We used to eat apricot kernels - to boost the immune system. Were told by the naturopath to also eat apple seeds. The body uses that trace of bitterness to fight off disease. It was Rudolf Steiner who said eat the SEED of the fruit, rather than the flesh and the juice. We try for both.

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  20. Elephant's Eye... haven't tried apricot kernels before... but I think the effects are similar with regards to increasing the immune system... we should try eating apple seeds at the next opportunity...

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  21. Thank you for telling me the symbol of ranunculus colour. In my culture nobody actually think about meanings of colours, only visual side of plant combinations. K

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  22. This article is very interesting, the look of those mountain peach, so pretty!

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    Replies
    1. Yeap, the mountain peach is really photogenic, I must say...

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