We picked up the white dragon fruit on our trip to the Kokua Market because of its striking pink color. This is exactly the kind of fruit that comes to my mind when I think of 'tropical fruits'. Pink.
The dragon fruit is a little less than the size of half a pineapple. The outer skin is about 0.5 inches, and since this is a white dragon fruit, the innards were white.
In case you are wondering, the extra-pink edge between the skin and the meat really is extra-pink... It's not a digital artifact...
To tell you the truth, I am not much of a fruit lover and I was attracted to these Hawaiian fruits just for the novelty. Much like the lilikoi, I wasn't overwhelmed by the dragon fruit, although the Papa Bear, with his tropical blood, was very much impressed with both the lilikoi and the dragon fruit. The meat reminded me of a cactus, a kiwi (probably because of the seeds), and a unripe melon all at the same time. I liked how the seeds popped with every bite (without squirting some tart stuff like the lilikoi did to me), but it wasn't particularly juicy or sweet. Since this one fruit cost us $5, it's very unlikely that I will ever get it again. I'd rather spend my $5 on SEVEN malasadas!
PS:
It never ceases to amaze me how much information I can find by a simple Google search.
9 comments:
We had these in Thailand:)!
Hi Alice-san,
I enjoy reading your blog every day! Anyway, I just had these Dragon Fruits in Japan last week. My mom said they were shipped from her frined who lives in Okinawa. I also had really tasty mangoes from there.
Is this the same as Pitaya? Delicious Days did a post on them last week, and Nicky said the pink ones are FAR more flavorful than the white.
This one certainly LOOKS like a vanilla bean custard inside!
Wow, Joy,
You are a tropical fruit queen!!! but the question is, did you like it????
Crawmommy-san,
Thank you so much for commenting on my blog!!! I had no idea they had these fruits in Japan, but I guess Okinawa is very much a tropical location for tropical fruits. What did you think of the Dragon Fruits? And what are they called in Japanese? Doragon Furu-tsu?!
Fatemeh,
I didn't know if it's the same as a pitaya, but a quick google search tells me so. Hmmmm. I guess I should try the red ones next!
Yes, ma'am, I do!
I love most fruits, except the mealy ones. I HATE mealy fruit. Which is why I can only tolerate the best of pears:).
Alice-san,
Yes, it's called Doragon Furu-tsu and the one I had in Japan was quite tasty and sweet. Like you described, it reminded me of kiwi fruits. And I'm sure it costs more than $6 in Japan.
There must have been a recent proliferation of the dragon fruit in (S.E.) Asia. When I was still in the Old Country (Vietnam) almost 30 years ago, I had never heard of Dragon Fruit. But recent visitors from there had asked me about the fruit.
I only had it one other time (in Vancouver, Canada). I think I had to pay the equivalent of $5 U.S. then too, but it was so disappointing, since it tasted almost like unflavored gelatin. The one I had in Hawaii was much more to my liking!
Joy,
Mealy. I actually had to look up what a mealy fruit was like... Being a luke-warm fruit lover, 'mealy' wasn't in my culinary vocab - but I guess it should've been, since it means exactly what it should mean - resembling meal. I am not a big fan of mealy pears either, and when I happen to pick a bad Nashi Japanese pear after paying premium prices for them, it makes me very angry. Nashi at its best is so juicy and wonderfully delicious - one of th efew fruits I willingly consume!
Crawmommy-san,
I agree! Something tells me an exotic fruit like that would command serious $$$ in Japan! I guess I should count my blessings!
Papa,
Was this the fruit to which your sister was allergic?
That's a cool looking fruit. Does it by any chance taste like the dragon fruit flavor of vitamin water?
Post a Comment