I first saw these nectarines at a park in Guangzhou, dangling from a tree as part of a botanical exhibit. I learned from my dad that they (the nectarine growers) put some sort of a sticker over the fruit before it ripens to block out light and create a lettering effect. Quite clever, I must say.
Lately these things have been popping up in Beijing’s produce markets. I couldn’t resist buying some, despite the fact that they were almost twice as expensive as other nectarines. I dug through a bin and pulled out “double happiness” (喜喜 shuāng xǐ) and “long life” (寿 shòu). All the “good fortune”s (福 fú) looked a little bruised, so I didn’t get any. They were quite juicy and delicious on a hot muggy day.
I’ve seen this natural lettering on apples too. My dad seemed stumped when I asked him over the phone just a few minutes ago if this type of fruit had an official name in Chinese. “Fat choy guo?” he guessed, meaning fortune fruit in Cantonese. Perhaps. Has anyone else seen these around and/or know what they’re called?
that’s such a clever way to grow it! mayb one day i can try growing a nectarine tree and stick a heart stencil on each fruit and i’d get love-nectarine!! jokes. these are way too cool for school. ;) x
Really interesting post. Can’t wait to see if anyone has more information.
makes great hostess gifts. were they super sweet?
They were definitely pretty sweet. If nectarines weren’t so easy to bruise I would bring some down to HK to give to my relatives.
We’ve seen them in Malaysian Chinese markets as far back as almost 2 yrs ago.
http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2006/08/crankytown.html
But they’re sold rock-hard with slight tint of green at the stem, with no fragrance at all … which tells me that they wouldn’t have been as good as the one you had. And yes, they’re imported from China.