China food souvenirs: dried fruit

Mom is back in town! She has brought back sweets from China: dried persimmon, dried longan, dried grapes (aka raisins) and dried figs. Dried fruit is an excellent souvenir from China. Easy to take home, not that expensive and delicious. And if the home front doesn’t like it; more for you!

Persimmon (Kaki in Dutch) 柿餅

The dried persimmon comes from Shanxi. The skin is peeled and then the persimmon is dried in the sun. Mom knows someone who’s family was working in the dried persimmon business. She could peel a persimmon very fast by hand. About 300 kilo per day.

The white powder on the dried fruit is not fungus, it’s solidified sugar. This dried persimmon was not very sweet (it can be sweeter) but it was still delicious.

Longan 龙眼干

The longan come from Guangdong. They are very sweet. Longan (Mandarin: long2yan3) actually means dragon eye in Chinese. I see them as a more sophisticated version of lychee; smaller and sweeter.

Raisins 葡萄乾

Mom told me that Chinese people like dark food these days, because it has anthocyanins. This is a pigment in fruits and plants, which create the color red, purple or blue. Apparently eating dark food is good for your health. I don’t know if that is true.

The raisins are pitch black and come from Xinjiang. I think they are from the black grape. They are also excellent dark decorations in food art, as you see:

Figs 無花乾

The figs come from Xinjiang. They shrank to these 2 cm small balls. In the Netherlands dried figs are usually 5 cm big in diameter. The 2cm balls are quite hard to bite on, but very sweet. I think all the sugar concentrated itself in the small ball.

Bonus dried fruit: mango 芒果干

I actually asked for dried mango this time as souvenir, but mom also brought a lot of other dried fruits back. The mangoes are a bit sour, no sugar added. The package design is beautiful, modern and resealable.

Last year mom brought back some other food souvenirs from China: savory food ingredients.

Video stuff
I hope you guys enjoyed the Amsterdam video. Now I am going to start with part 2 of Amsterdam, which will have some alcohol tips….
See you in the next story! Have a good day 🙂