Peel and separate the mandarins

• Peel the mandarins.
• Separate them into individual segments.

Heat the tea water

• Heat water in a saucepan until just below boiling.

Soak the segments

• Drop the segments into the hot tea water so they swell and the fibers loosen.

Scrape the fibers off

• Remove a segment from the water and scrape the fibers off with a paring knife or bird's beak knife.
• Use the tip of the knife to remove deeper fibers, working all the edges and sides without popping the segment.
• For small mandarins, clean the whole fruit the same way, more gently.