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Loquats Stewed
Loquats may be stewed when but half ripe, or when fully mature, or half and half. Rub off the fuzz; remove stems and seeds, or merely wipe off the fuzz and stew whole, and put over a moderate fire with just a little water. When partially tender sugar to taste and finish cooking.
A dooryard-fruit recipe from an era when loquats ripened faster than a household could eat them. The method is sound; it only assumes knowledge the modern cook may not have.
- Very little waterLoquats are roughly 85 percent water and collapse quickly. Two or three tablespoons in the bottom of the pan is enough to keep things from catching until the fruit gives up its own juice.
- "Moderate fire"On a stovetop this suggests a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil. Roughly fifteen to twenty minutes for halved fruit, longer for whole; the flesh turns translucent when done.
- Sugar goes in late, and that mattersSugar added at the start draws water out of the fruit and firms the flesh, so it softens more slowly. Wait until the loquats are yielding, then sweeten and cook a few minutes more.
- How much sugar"To taste" depends entirely on ripeness. Half-ripe fruit is sharply acidic and wants a good deal of sugar; fully mature loquats need considerably less. Taste after the first addition.
- The fuzz and the skinRubbing with a dry cloth takes off the down. The skin itself is thin and edible but goes slightly leathery in stewing; if you want a smooth compote, peel the fruit, which slips easily when ripe.
- SeedsEach fruit holds one to four large glossy seeds that are easy to pop out of a halved loquat. If you stew whole and fish them out later, do not crush or grind them: loquat seeds, like apple pips and apricot kernels, contain cyanogenic compounds and are not eaten.
- BrowningCut loquat flesh oxidises fast and the finished stew tends toward a dull tan. A squeeze of lemon into the pan keeps the colour brighter and sharpens flat, over-ripe fruit.
- Yield and servingA pound of loquats, once stemmed and seeded, gives about two cups of prepared fruit and serves three or four. Good warm with cream, or cold alongside pork or duck.
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is native to southeastern China and was long cultivated in Japan, which is how it reached Europe and the Americas under the borrowed names Japan plum and Japanese medlar. It was planted widely as an ornamental across the Gulf South, Florida and California in the nineteenth century, and, being an evergreen that fruits in early spring, it delivered a heavy crop weeks before most other garden fruit was ready. The fruit bruises easily and ships poorly, so recipes for it were largely written for people with a tree in the yard and more loquats than they could give away. Stewing suits it because it handles half-ripe and fully ripe fruit in the same pan, which is exactly the mixture a tree gives you when you strip a branch at once.