Japan's Wholly Edible Organic Banana
We think we know bananas, but you don't know them properly until you've met the "Next 716" from Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. This very expensive banana is not only cultivated organically, i.e., completely chemical-free, but you can also eat the skin!
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| "Next 716" organic Japanese banana. |
We splashed out and tried a "Next 716" at our local supermarket here in Tokyo. It looked beautiful and, this being Japan, it was beautifully packaged in its own special box.
As you can see from the photo of the banana in the box, it wasn't quite ripe when we bought it, so we gave it four or five days.
When it had turned a beautiful golden-yellow, we cut it up - skin and all - and put it on our breakfast.
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| A ripe "Next 716" organic Japanese banana. |
We were most interested in how the skin would taste. Well, it certainly wasn't as sweet as the deliciously sweet banana itself, but it wasn't face-screwingly bitter either. In other words, they had done a pretty good job of making the skin edible.
And, of course, with no chemicals used in cultivating the banana, there is no risk of ingesting chemicals by eating the skin.
Would we buy the "Next 716" again? Yes, if we were trying to impress a visitor with a uniquely Japanese product! (Or, should we say, a uniquely Japanese version of what is originally a South-East Asian product.)
The "Next 716" was by far the most delicious banana we've ever tasted and is a lesser-known food delicacy that any visitor to Japan should try.
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