The Star Fruit Experiment

So far I’ve written about my first experiences with Dragon Fruit and Passion Fruit. This time I decided to try Star Fruit.

Preparation was a bit different compared with the other two fruits, although I washed it as before. The piece was in great shape when I bought it, but I put off eating it because I wanted to take photos. Therefore, it got a bit over-ripe and damaged in spots. So I cut away the brown edges of the “fins” before slicing it into star shapes.

I pushed a few of the seeds out; I didn’t need to since they’re harmless and lack taste. But some of them were starting to turn brown, so I decided to avoid those. The flesh was resilient and juicy, with a balance of sweetness and tartness. It was a bit like grapefruit, with similar texture but not as bitter.

I didn’t experience any allergic reaction whatsoever. Nor did my digestion rebel at all.

These are priced by the piece rather than weight. They were more expensive than apples or bananas per serving size.

Wikihow has a good write-up on the Star Fruit¹ and has a few creative suggestions about how to serve it. It also warns folks with kidney problems to avoid it because it contains a neurotoxin; it cites Snopes as the source.²

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¹https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-a-Star-Fruit

²https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trancing-with-the-stars/

The Passion Fruit Experiment

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my first experience with a Dragon Fruit.  I decided to try other “exotic” foods.  This time I bought two passion fruits.

Preparation was the same as with the Dragon Fruit.  After washing it, I just cut it in half lengthwise.  The hull was very resilient – somewhat like leathery cardboard.  Once it was halved, I scooped out the interior with a metal teaspoon and ate it.

Crunchy tart seeds dominated the sweet pulp and juice.  Some reviewers recommend adding sugar, but I did not feel it was necessary.

I didn’t experience any allergic reaction whatsoever.  Nor did my digestion rebel at all.

These are small and priced by the piece rather than weight.  So I got very little fruit for the money.

The next exotic fruit will be Star Fruit.

Left: Whole; Center: Sliced in Half; Right: After Scooping