My new favourite fruit - mangosteen

Because Southeast Asia has such a tropical climate, there are a lot of fruits available here that you just can't get in North America. Well, I guess in this day and age of modern packaging and shipping, there really are no boundaries, but what ends up arriving in Chinatown or other Asian markets in North America is a far cry from what you get here locally.

We went to the fruit market and came back with a number of gorgeous, delicious fruits:

From left to right: Lychee, longan, rambutan, and mangosteen.

They are all very similar in that they are peel-and-eat fruits, but obviously they appear quite different. To me the first three taste like variations on a theme (cool, sweet and juicy.)

But the one I want to single out is the mangosteen. I don't know how I ever managed to have visited this region multiple times without having tried this delectable entity, but I am so glad I finally did!

Contrary to its name, the mangosteen has nothing to do with the mango (another mouth-watering treat found here in abundance). It looks like a pretty unprepossessing kind of fruit, not flashy like the green and red rambutan, not notorious like the smells-like-sewers durian. But don't take it for granted: you have to be careful as you split the thick purple rind because the juice has a tendency to stain your clothes. You also have to use caution with your fingertips so as not to bruise the precious fruit within.



Once open, the mangosteen reveals its odd appearance. It literally looks like a white clove of garlic, which was surprising to me. The fruit is easily bruised like an overripe peach, but once you have teased out a section and put it in your mouth....it's pure heaven! Slightly sweet, slightly sour, very juicy. Delicious.

Comments

  1. JorgeJune 29, 2006 11:39 PM

    I'm not homesick.
    But I'm friggin' hungry now.

    Thanks a lot!

    :)

    ReplyDelete

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