Satsumas are tangerines and are considered a variety of small mandarin oranges. They are seedless and their skin is loosely attached to the fruit making them super easy to peel. This citrus fruit does not need to have smooth, tight skin when you buy it, but choose satsumas carefully since the peel’s looseness makes bruising difficult to detect.

Like clementines, satsumas are seedless. The two are often marketed and sold interchangeably—although the difference is easy to detect since clementines have tight peels and satsumas have loose peels.

Satsumas are relatively cold-hardy for a citrus fruit. This fruit’s growth area has extended around the Gulf Coast in the U.S., although most satsumas come from California. This fruit is in season from November through January. Try replacing canned mandarins in recipes for Chinese chicken salad, Southern mandarin orange cake, and dessert sauce.