Spring 2016 is finally here. Say goodbye to chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate and hello to new, invigorating fruits. Here is a list of six exotic fruits that are must-tries for the upcoming warm weather.
#SpoonTip: you can find a lot of these fruits at Trader Joe’s or an Asian market.
1. Lychee
Photo courtesy of food.ndtv.com
Origin: China
Taste: Sweet with floral tones.
How to eat: Best eaten fresh. Peel off the rough, pink exterior to expose the fragrant white flesh that lies underneath. Great in gin and vodka drinks (lycheetini, anyone)?
2. Star Fruit
Photo courtesy of officiallydiabetic.com
Origin: Southeast Asia
Taste: Star fruits are sweet, but not overpoweringly so. Depending on the breed, there could be a level of tartness. Usually, all fruits have a sour undertone to them.
How to eat: Starfruit is delicious fresh but can also be cooked or made into a sweet juice. A ripe starfruit will have brown along each of its five edges. To prepare the fruit, slice off each of these brown ridges with a sharp knife. Then cut the top and bottom (like cutting the ends of a cucumber), and you are ready to slice and eat. Just make sure you don’t eat the seeds.
3. Dragon Fruit
Photo courtesy of megunprocessed.com
Origin: Mexico
Taste: Tart and refreshing
How to eat: Best eaten fresh. First, decide if the fruit is ripe by feeling its firmness. It should give a little but still be firm, and the color of the fruit’s exterior should be even. The dragon fruit is easiest prepared somewhat like an avocado: sliced down the middle and then scooped out of the pink shell (which is not edible).
4. Mangosteen
Photo courtesy of healthnbodytips.com
Origin: Indonesia
Taste: Sweet, aromatic, a tad tart
How to eat: Best eaten fresh. However, given the difficulty to import this fruit, it is easiest to find it frozen or canned. The mangosteen is best compared to an orange in terms of inner anatomy. Beyond its exterior, the fruit is fleshy, white and divides up into triangular segments.
5. Feijoas
Photo courtesy of stuff.co.nz
Origin: South America
Taste: Juicy and sweet.
How to eat: The fruit is roughly the size of an egg and is best eaten fresh. To eat, cut in half and scoop out the flesh. Also good when added to smoothies.
6. Kiwi Berries
Photo courtesy of marxfoods.com
Origin:Asia
Taste: Think kiwi, just smaller and a little sweeter.
How to eat: Eat them like grapes. You know that they are ripe when the exterior becomes a little wrinkled.