The 'How to Cook' Blog

Okay, I’m sure they’re not the only ones…

I have been asked a number of times, “What the heck the fruit is to the right of the mangoes on the top of this page?”

Well, the reddish-pink ones that have spiky flaps are dragonfruit or pithaya/pitaya.

The yellow fruit with the spiky flaps are also dragonfruit, yellow ones, or yellow pithaya/pitaya. I have found a photo of a yellow dragonfruit sliced open…Check it out here:

Yellow Pithaya/Yellow Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit are a super-popular exotic fruit these days and they come from several cactus species of plants. You can find them in just about any grocery store, in Canada anyway. They look so interesting! It’s a fruit on fire…it even looks like a little flame!

There are 3 different varieties:
1. Pink skin with white flesh
2. Pink skin with red flesh
3. Yellow skin with white flesh

Although they are native to Mexico, Central and South America, they are also cultivated in many places: Southeast Asian countries, even in Israel.
Dragonfruit, at least when shipped to Canada, are relatively tasteless and seem not be worth the time or money. However, dragonfruit are claimed to be extremely nutritious!

• Antioxidants: red flesh variety is rich in these.
• Vitamins: pitaya fruit is rich in these.
• Helps the digestive process because it is rich in fiber
• Helps prevent colon cancer and diabetes^.
• Helps neutralize toxic substances: heavy metals, reduce cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.
• Helps against asthma and cough, if eaten regularly.

Check out the nutrition profile for just 100 g of dragonfruit:

• Fat 0.61g
• Fiber 0.9g
• Phosphorous 36.1mg
• Carotene 0.012g
• Protein 0.229g
• Water 83.0g
• Calcium 8.8mg
• Iron 0.65mg
• Riboflavin 0.045mg
• Niacin 0.430mg
• Ascorbic Acid 9.0mg

Even though they don’t taste amazing here in Canada, these are great reasons to work it into your diet!

You can eat them raw, you can make wine (see my blog post for how to make wine) or juice out of them, the flowers can be eaten or steeped as a tea. The texture eating them raw is like that of a kiwi fruit due to the small seeds, which are edible, but indigestible. The flesh is mildly sweet and very low in calories.

I suggest eating the fruit raw, as it will retain the most nutrients in this form. If it is not sweet enough, add it to a fruit salad in small chunks. You may also juice it! I think it would be fabulous juiced with lychee nuts and lime!

Hopefully, this is all you wanted to know and more about the dragonfruit!

I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Cooking With Kimberly! Until next time…

Eat Deliciously,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. This sounds like a fabulous combination to me:

Dragonfruit & Lime White Tea, 50gA glorious blend of tropical fruits GBP 9.6 per 100g. Luscious, intensely succulent dragonfruit and papaya dominate; brilliantly supported by blackberry and hints of lime. Brew a few leaves in a bowl or cup. Use boiling or off-the-boil water depending on the intensity and clarity you like. To get the best from such a superb tea; top up 2-4 times with more hot water.

Technorati Tags: dragonfruit, pithaya, pitaya, yellow dragonfruit, fruit, exotic fruit

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