JAPANESE FLOWERING CRAB APPLE, JAPANESE CRAB, PURPLE CHOKEBERRY, SHOWY CRABAPPLE
September 27, 2022
We are slowly headed back home to Florida and our first stop was Chicago to have dinner with friends and attend a Heilung concert. If you haven’t heard them, definitely check them out.
Finding an RV park in the Chicagoland area was a bit of a challenge but, we finally found a place at Camp Bullfrog Lake, a county forest preserve. It turned out to be a wonderful wooded oasis with fabulous trails and a small lake for fishing and kayaking.
It also had quite a few delicious edibles – our first discovery was the Japanese Flowering Crab Apple.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
Deciduous tree with a pleasant, rounded shape and arching branches that originated from Japan and East Asia. Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to elliptic with serrated margins. In the spring, an abundance of red buds open to fragrant, pale pink blossoms that eventually mature to white. Flowers are followed by small yellow to red crabapples.
This tree is predominately planted for ornamental purposes and to attract wildlife.
There are no known medicinal uses.
RECIPE
5-Spice Pickled Crabapples
I used Sweet Vegan’s Autumn Pickled Crabapples as the base. However, since I planned to make refrigerator pickles and not embark on any home canning in the camper, I decreased the portion size slightly.
I also didn’t have all of the ingredients, so made the following substitutions:
- Rice wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar
- Chinese five-spice and fresh ginger rather than cloves and allspice
The tiny red orbs floated in their pickling solution for about a week before I tried them.
I had never eaten pickled apples before and found them delightful. They were crisp, tangy, sweet, a bit tart, with the warm flavors of anise and ginger the most prominent. Moreover, the previously white crabapple flesh had turned a pleasing shade of pink.
While I liked simply eating them out of the jar, pickled crabapples were a zesty addition to a Sesame Cucumber Carrot Salad we made one night. I really think they would be great on a cheese board.
References
Malus floribunda. (2022, February 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus_floribunda
Missouri Botanical Garden. (.n.d.). Malus floribunda. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286525
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