Everything You Need to Know about Dragon Fruit: How to Choose, Peel, Prepare, and More
Everything You Need to Know about Dragon Fruit: How to Choose, Peel, Prepare, and More
Dragon fruit, also known as pitahaya, is an exotic fruit for most who remain unbeknownst to its subtle blend of sweetness and tarty flavor. The neon pink exterior with accents of yellowish green captivates your attention from the second your eyes fall on it, but you may not know enough about it to pick one up.
How do I pick a good dragon fruit?
How to cut/peel it?
How to eat it?
If you have any of these questions and perhaps more, you’ve arrived at the right place. Fret not, for we have answers for all these. Let’s dive right into it.
How to Choose a Dragon Fruit?
The juicy and fleshy fruit is supposed to be smooth and shiny. At first glance, you mustn’t find any blemishes or wrinkles on the skin. Once you pick it up, the fruit must be firm, but when given a gentle squeeze, it must compress slightly, just like a banana or an avocado. If you find it to be too pulpy, then don’t pick that one.
The color and the season does matter. Although the pink lipstick color skin with white flesh and black seeds is the most popular variation of the fruit, you may also find dragon fruit that has a yellow-orange outer skin and deep purple flesh inside. You may get it all year, but the neon pink variation is best between late summer and fall, while the yellow-orange variation is best during the winter months.
How to Peel and Cut a Dragon Fruit?
There are different ways of peeling and cutting this tropical fruit. You either go the slice-and-dice way or if you’re curating a fruit platter, a bowl of juicy dragon fruit bowls will be better suited. Allow us to take you through the variations.
- You can slice the fruit into two halves with a knife, either from top to bottom or in the middle. Once you do, you can score the juicy flesh and scoop pieces with a spoon.
- Another way you can cut the fruit is by simply slicing it into two halves and using a melon baller to make fresh dragon fruit balls. You can either place these inside the skin itself, using it as a bowl, or use the silverware of your choice.
- You can also cut the fruit into wedges if you like that as a presentation variation.
How to Prepare a Dragon Fruit?
You can have the dragon fruit in different ways, along with several other food items. A few of those are mentioned below:
- Have the fruit as is. You can cut it into two halves and eat it from the skin itself or dice the pulp, take them in a bowl, and enjoy one piece at a time with a fork.
- You can use the fruit’s texture in a fruit salad that has fruits like grapes, oranges, bananas, and apples. It balances the flavors of different fruits and also adds a good variation of texture.
- Use dragon fruit as a topping for some of your snacks/dishes. Whether you’re eating yogurt or oatmeal, you can have chopped pieces along with them.
- You can even make a dragon fruit smoothie and use ingredients such as honey and cream to make the delicacy a little fun.
Overall, this is everything you need to know about this exotic fruit. Although the mystery behind it has been unraveled, you can still experiment with different preparations that suit your palette and style to enjoy this fruit.
