People have often heard me refer to winter as “apple-pear-citrus” season. And the part that I like most about it is the abundance of juicy, sweet citrus fruit. So, when Whole Foods asked if I would like to point out the differences between satsuma tangerines and clementines, I thought,  “Why not?” since it will have me eating and thinking about these sweet, orange gems.

As a warm up, I perused Whole Foods website to see what kinds of creations they came up with for these fruits. Here are my two favorites of their bunch:

Green Beans with Pecans and Clementine Dressing         Spinach Salad with Aduki Beans and Satsuma Vinaigrette

            

Here is what I was inspired  to create with these wonderful citrus fruits. And here is what I have to say about each of them.

I have to admit that I am a bit of a tangerine purist.  I like to peel them and eat them as is  (and if  they are organic, I save the peel to dehydrate to add to other dishes or to mix into herb and spice blends) . Using them in a recipe is almost sinful yet the sweet juice is amazing so that’s what I chose to use.

I substituted the tangerine juice for orange juice in one of my favorite salad dressing, or sauce, recipes which is here:

Tangerine Miso Dressing

Makes about ¾ cup

This tastes great on spinach, other raw or cooked greens, or on soba or rice noodles with vegetables. If you want to make this a bit richer, stir in a couple of teaspoons of tahini or other seed or nut butter.  I usually make this with orange juice but I might now only use tangerine juice.

½       cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice (2 to 3 of them)

1        teaspoon grated tangerine  zest (best to zest before juicing)

¼       cup water

2        tablespoons mellow white miso (my favorites are South River Miso or Miso Master)

1        clove garlic, minced

1/2     teaspoon grated ginger

1-2     teaspoons agave syrup, only if necessary but it’s not likely with tangerines

Blend all ingredients in the food processor (small) or blender until smooth.

This will keep up to a week in the refrigerator but it won’t likely last that long.

Satsuma or Clementine? How do they compare?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is how the tangerines stack up one against the other in this dressing.

Let me first say that I love Satsuma tangerines as much for the ease of peeling them as for their flavor. Ease of use is almost always going to sway my opinion of a product although taste is the final determining factor.The clementines denser texture is lost in this recipe but for out of hand eating, I might opt for the clementine since they are only marginally more difficult to peel (although this seems to vary more with each batch of clementines than with Satsumas).

The flavor difference in this recipe is not appreciably different with either of these tasty tangerines although the tiny bit higher acidity of the clementine makes the dressing a bit tangier which is what I like. If you prefer your dressing sweeter, then use the Satsumas. The juice of the Satsuma (seen below on the right) is  much brighter orange which you might find more visually appealing. If it’s winter, you cannot go wrong with either of these tasty tangerines. I suggest that you try them and see what you think. (Let me know by posting a comment below. )

Disclosure: Whole Foods encouraged me to write this post and paid for my citrus but all opinions posted are my own.