Tangerines & Mandarins: Facts, Fictions and a Recipe
So, all tangerines are mandarins, but not all mandarins are tangerines. A bit confusing, but the differences are significant, starting with the two varieties’ origin, which is quite easy to remember: Tangerines have an African heritage, specifically in Morocco, around the northwestern city of Tangiers. Mandarins are native to China and Southwest Asia. Mandarins are smaller fruits, with pebbly skins that are very easy to peel and much sweeter than most tangerine varieties. Tangerines are larger than mandarins, the peel clings to the fruit, making them much harder to peel, and they do have a tang to them, though that is not where the fruit’s name originates.
In Chinese culture and during Lunar New Year celebrations, both mandarins and tangerines symbolized good fortune, wealth, and positive wishes. This is because the Chinese words for orange and mandarin sound like the words for "success" and "luck," respectively, and their golden color resembles gold. The golden color of the fruit carried over to Western cultures right after the Great Depression, when the fruit was a rare and exotic treat, often included in children's Christmas stockings. This tradition is linked to the European legend of St. Nicholas, who is said to have dropped gold balls down a chimney, which were later represented by the sweet citrus fruit. Well, I do remember getting a tangerine in my stocking as a kid, never found a gold ball, though! I would have traded in the infamous bike for such gold globes in my stocking instead of the usual small goodies that did include a tangerine/never knew why until doing research for this article.
For this recipe, a mandarin and a tangerine variety were used based on the recipe's needs. The Honey Tangerine, also marketed as the Murcott tangerine, produces much more juice than the small Kishu mandarin; the recipe calls for half a cup of juice, so the Honey tangerine was the natural choice. Also, being larger, it was more practical and a lot easier to zest the Honey tangerine rather than the tiny Kishu. On the other hand, the recipe also calls for whole sections of mandarin to be tossed into the mix for visual and flavor accent near the end of the prep. This role was best filled by the Kishu since the size of its segments seemed to match the rest of the prepped ingredients, and the subtle addition of a splash of sweet citrus in most forkfuls just seemed built for the tiny Kishu segments. The challenge with this recipe is losing half the ingredient list to hungry hands; those Kishu segments are so small they just seem to disappear. Tip: Buy extra fruit for this natural attrition.
Mandarin Stir-fry Chicken in a Tangerine Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Sauce
1/2 cup fresh Honey Tangerine juice (about 2-3 tangerines)
1 tbsp tangerine zest
1/4 cup chicken broth or water
3 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium recommended)
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
For the Stir-Fry
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil or peanut oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchstick strips
8 oz sno peas, trimmed
1 cup fresh Kishu mandarin segments, cleaned
Sliced green onions (garnish)
Preparation
In a small bowl, combine and whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are no longer pink inside and start to brown, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside.
Add the remaining oil to the skillet. Add the red bell pepper and snow peas. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until crisp-tender.
Return the chicken to the skillet. Give the prepared sauce a quick whisk (cornstarch settles) and pour it over the chicken and vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy, about 1-2 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Gently stir in the Kishu segments just to warm them through. Overcooking the segments will cause them to break down.
Serve: Garnish with sliced green onions. Serve immediately, standalone, over rice or noodles.
